Air New Zealand to fly first stretch Dreamliner to Australia

Air New Zealand will fly the first of its brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on the Perth-Auckland run, in a move that will raise the level of competition facing Qantas on trans-Tasman routes.

The Kiwi airline will be the first carrier to receive the stretched version of the Dreamliner – known as the 787-9 – in the middle of next year, albeit years after it was originally slated to take delivery of the new plane type.

The airline has also unveiled the layout for its fleet of 10 787-9 planes, which will feature 18 lie-flat seats in business class in a so-called "herringbone" layout, and a premium economy cabin in a two-three-two seat configuration.

The two economy cabins of the aircraft will seat 263 passengers.

Following the deployment of its first new planes on the Perth-Sydney route, the airline will fly what it describes as its "game-changer" aircraft from Auckland to both Tokyo and Shanghai.

Last year Air New Zealand, which has an alliance with Virgin Australia on the trans-Tasman route, boosted capacity between Perth and Auckland by replacing a Boeing 767 with a larger 777 aircraft.

Qantas also announced recently that it would add twice weekly services using an A330 aircraft on the Perth-Auckland route from early December to the end of January.

Air New Zealand's decision to ramp up the competition on the Tasman comes as Jetstar received approval the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to press the first of its Dreamliners into service.