Air New Zealand unveils new business class, days are numbered for the old sardine tin

Never before have we seen so much turmoil in the airline world as in recent months.. After two years of hibernation and in light of the mass return of travelers, even beyond the most optimistic forecasts, many carriers have kicked off the restyling of cabins, premium and otherwise

In recent weeks we have reported on the invention of Air New Zealand's which will soon introduce berths to the fleet for economy travelers; at the same time, the complete renovation of the business class cabin was also announced.

Air New Zealand's announcement was long overdue. The company is set to abandon one of the worst, if not the worst business class configuration ever put into production: it will be replaced with a brand new design that Will debut during 2024 and will become a standard for the carrier's long-haul by mid-2027.

There will also be a Business Premier Luxe section, with four to eight seats offering additional space and privacy at the front of each section of Business Class cabins, sort of a middle ground between a biz and first class. In these seats, it will be possible to dine together.

The new cabin also features a 1-2-1 layout, instead of the current 1-1-1 configuration, this means there will be 26 to 50 seats in Business Class on the 787-9 (both Business Premier and Business Premier Luxe), up from only 18 or 27 today.

Air New Zealand's current Business Class

Air New Zealand's current business class seat had an innovative design when it was first launched in 2003 with Virgin Atlantic: was the first aisle-facing herringbone configuration of seats in Business Class, as if we have forgotten that travelers like to look out the window and not at the neighbor eating.

Now, 19 years after that inauspicious choice, the New Zealand carrier has finally decided to call it quits. Remarkably, it did so just days before That Virgin also announced a farewell to that seat.

Air New Zealand is the launch customer for this product, however, this is not exclusive to the airline, so we can expect to see it appear on other carriers soon.

The cabin is always configured in a herringbone pattern, all seats will continue to face the aisle, but with a huge difference: the passenger will no longer give his back to the windows.

This configuration provides greater privacy, head is away from the aisle, so less noise to disturb sleep. Although, as usual, NZ will offer narrower seats than many other carriers, a way to be able to fit more seats.

In contrast, the All Blacks' official carrier will put a Huge 24-inch personal entertainment screen on each seat, with built-in Bluetooth audio streaming capability, as well as USB-A, USB-C and AC power sockets.

For comparison, Virgin Atlantic in the new business class will include screens between 18 and 22 inches, much smaller than those we will see on board NZ.

There will be no door to completely isolate the passenger, only a sliding panel that will allow travelers to create a slightly more enclosed private space.

Of course, the partition panel between the middle pairs of seats can also be retracted so that couples, friends or colleagues traveling together can be closer together.

The airline describes the new product as : "A comfortable and private nest for happy travel and peaceful sleep. And if traveling with a companion, the middle row allows customers to open their nest and share their experience."

The Premiere Luxe business

The first row of the Business Class cabin on Air New Zealand's Boeing 787s will feature four Business Premier Luxe seats in a 1-2-1 configuration.

This means that there will be a total of four of these seats in the airline's regular configuration with a single section of the Business Class cabin between the front door and the second entrance door, seats 1A, 1B, 1J and 1K.

However, there will be eight of these seats in the premium-heavy configuration, which also has a smaller second Business Class cabin behind the second entry doors and thus benefits from a second row of bulkheads in addition to row 1, meaning that seats 9A, 9B , 9J and 9K will also be Business Premier Luxe options.

These seats are designed to offer an intermediate product between Business and First Class, boasting additional space over the Business Premier option, an ottoman that also allows for "lunch among friends," and a privacy door that closes for that "suite" feel.

A custom mattress in the Business Premier Luxe seat will also allow a larger sleeping surface.

In conclusion

It is great to see Air New Zealand finally introduce the new Business Class cabin, although unfortunately it will be another couple of years before they make their debut on Boeing 787s.

Although the Business Premier seats do not have doors, privacy will be markedly improved over the current seats.

Meanwhile, four or eight Business Premier Luxe seats will be equipped with doors, more space and the ability to dine with another passenger. Now, as with all other airlines that have announced new cabins, we just have to wait--and NZ will be the one to make us wait the longest.