Once again, we’re continuing on from San Francisco across the Pacific. Today’s trip report is one I’ve had on the back burner since late June, when I first saw one of them parked on a remote stand at SFO. It appears that for some, NZ has replaced its flagship 777-300ER with the 787-9 on flights between Auckland and San Francisco. While the koru-wearing 777s will be missed in the Bay, the NZ Dreamliners provide a fresh sight at what is now 1 of only 2 U.S. destinations (due to the suspension of ORD-AKL) seeing the 787-9s of the Kiwi carrier.
Server: Solo
Airline: Air New Zealand
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
Origin: San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California (SFO)
Destination: Auckland Airport, Māngere, New Zealand (AKL)
Flight Number: NZ7
Route: KSFO-NZAA
Seat: 5A (Business)
Time En Route: 13 Hours 12 Minutes
Watching the ground crew load bags into our aircraft at dusk. While many Star Alliance airlines have moved to the A Pier of the International Terminal as United Airlines has slowly taken over the G Pier, Air New Zealand has stayed on the west side of the airport amidst the ocean of Golden and Evo Blue globes.
Pushing back from Gate G7. Our business class seat is 1 of 18 in a 1-1-1 configuration. Yes, 1-1-1, which is almost unheard of today.
Taxiing across Runway 19L/01R on our way to 28L for departure, just before the airport closes it and its neighbor for the evening in order to mitigate noise. The seat seems very comfortable, although privacy is somewhat lacking. A preliminary look at the IFE selection shows us that there’s no shortage of movies, TV shows, or music to watch and listen to. Seems like we’ve got a pretty good flight ahead of us.
Powerful Trent 1000 takeoff from San Fran! We’re gently sinking back down into our seat as we climb out of the Bay Area. Speaking of the seat again, one unique feature of it is that it includes an ottoman, complete with seatbelt, if whoever one’s traveling with decides to drop in for a chat. Don’t think we’ll be needing it on this long, overnight flight, though.
Looking at the lights of Half Moon Bay Airport, down in Moss Beach. Doesn’t look like anyone’s up right now, though.
Getting ready to fall asleep somewhere southeast of Hawaii. We had a brief, but delightful dinner service, but it seemed most people up here in business were more focused on getting some sleep. The only issue with that is the purplish-pink mood lighting, which seems to be more in keeping with a bowling alley or Blade Runner 2049. Ah, well, if that’s the worst that happens, then we’ll have had an excellent flight.
Initial descent over the cirrus layer east of the North Island and final descent over Matarangi after a full night’s sleep
Arriving in Auckland just in time for breakfast
Getting a final look at our aircraft before going to score something to eat. Gotta be fueled for our next leg of this transpacific journey on another NZ Dreamliner. Off to Brisbane we go!