After 47 years of continuous Air New Zealand service, the venerable Boeing 737 has been retired from the carrier's service as of last evening with the second to last -300 series airframe built, ZK-NGI c/n 25608, flying the final scheduled passenger flight for the airline as ANZ557 from Auckland to Christchurch.
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| Arriving at Auckland from Wellington 06 September 2015 |
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| Arriving at gate 33, Auckland Domestic Terminal 06 September 2015 |
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| Taxiing to depart for Christchurch as ANZ521 06 September 2015. |
The phasing out of the type was signaled several years ago as the airline introduced the larger Airbus A320 and the 15th dedicated domestic example, ZK-OXK, is due this week.
Air New Zealand has arranged for a farewell tour of the country for the Boeing 737 with the aircraft planned to not only visit Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch but also Invercargill, Dunedin, Napier and Tauranga.
The jet will spend the day at Invercargill 08 September arriving at 0800 and departing at 1530 for Dunedin where it will overnight. The following day will be spent at Dunedin before flying to Christchurch mid afternoon.
Local flights are planned for the 12th and 13th of September then 14 September it flies to Wellington arriving at 1900. 15 September will see ZK-NGI conduct a trio of local flights before heading to Napier arriving at 1615. After spending much of the day at Napier 16 September the 737 will position to Tauranga arriving at 1600 and remain overnight before heading onto Auckland arriving at 1600 on the 17th. 19 and 20 September will see ZK-NGI fly a number of local flights from/to Auckland and her last flight is expected to take place on 21 September as NZ1737 from Auckland to Christchurch departing at 1000 and arriving at 1120.
Thanks to the magnificent work by Paul Sheehan and with reference to his 2003 book "The Aircraft of Air New Zealand and affiliates since 1940" for the following:
THE BOEING 737's - Pure Jets on the Main Trunk
In 1965 the search for a pure jet aircraft to replace the Vickers Viscounts on the NAC domestic main trunk routes was initiated and in May of that year NAC Senior Captains J. Walker and A. Kenning visited the USA, UK and Europe to consider the various types of aircraft that were currently on offer. In California they test flew a Douglas DC9 and in Seattle they evaluated the Boeing 727 which had the same fuselage cross section, similar cockpit and broadly similar wing to the as yet unflown Boeing 737. Then it was on to the UK where they test flew a BAC1-11 and finally in France, they also test flew the Sud Aviation Caravelle. Pressure was being placed on the airline to buy the British product, but when they had completed their evaluations, the two Captains reported back to their New Zealand management that the Boeing 737 was the best choice for NAC. One of the most important factors in the choice was the ability of the 737 to better handle the Wellington Harbour circuit over its rivals.
The British Government were most indignant at this result and despatched a BAC1-11 to New Zealand for demonstration to NAC and to coincide with the official opening of Auckland International Airport in February 1966. Just a year later, Lord Brown of the British Board of Trade visited New Zealand to try and persuade the airline to buy British. In July 1967, Captain Kenning returned to Seattle and test flew the brand new Boeing 737-100 and the die was cast! The final choice was the Boeing 737-200 which was a stretch of the series 100 by approximately 7 feet (just over 2 metres). Three aircraft formed the initial order which made NAC the first airline in the world outside of the USA and Europe to operate the 737.
NZNAC, the forerunner to todays Air New Zealand, took delivery of its first Boeing 737-219 ZK-NAC Piripiri (c/n 19929) on 29 August 1968 closely followed by ZK-NAD Pukeko (c/n 19930) on 11 September 1968 and ZK-NAE Purourou (c/n 19931) on 5 October 1968. The arrival of these three aircraft saw dramatic changes to the air travel landscape of New Zealand and the beginning of a legacy of narrowbody jet operations by the national carrier.
The 737-200 fleet was gradually replaced from 1998 with the introduction of the -300 series.
Air New Zealand has, over the 47 years, had 47 Boeing 737's registered to it (not including the periodic leases):
In summary200 series
ZK-NAA c/n 22638 Parekareka/Spotted Shag 1993-2001
ZK-NAB c/n 22364 Parera/Grey Duck 1994-2001
ZK-NAC c/n 19929 Piripiri/Rifleman 1968-1986
ZK-NAD/1 c/n 19930 Pukeko/Swamp Hen 1968-1986
ZK-NAD/2 c/n 23040 Papango/Scaup 1994-1995
ZK-NAE c/n 19931 Purourou/Saddleback 1968-1986
ZK-NAF c/n 23038 Pohowhera/Banded Dotterel 1994-1999
ZK-NAH c/n 23039 Peho/Morepork 1994-1997
ZK-NAI c/n 22365 Poaka/White Headed Gull 1993-2001
ZK-NAJ c/n 20344 Piere/NZ Robin 1971-1986
ZK-NAK c/n 20156 Pihoihoi NZ Lark 1973-1986
ZK-NAL/1 c/n 20158 un-named 1974-1981
ZK-NAL/2 c/n 21138 un-named 1992
ZK-NAM c/n 19758 Pateke/Brown Duck 1974-1986
ZK-NAP c/n 21130 Parekereka/Spotted Shag 1975-1994
ZK-NAQ/1 c/n 21131 un-named 1975-1976
ZK-NAQ/2 c/n 22022 un-named 1990-1995
ZK-NAR c/n 21645 Parera/Grey Duck 1978-1994
ZK-NAS c/n 22088 Piwakawaka/Fantail 1980-1994
ZK-NAT c/n 23470 Pihoihoi/New Zealand Lark 1986-1999
ZK-NAU c/n 23471 Pateke/Brown Duck 1986-2000
ZK-NAV c/n 23472 Pukeko/Swamp Hen 1986-1999
ZK-NAW c/n 23473 Purourou/Saddleback 1986-2000
ZK-NAX c/n 23474 Piere/New Zealand Robin 1986-2000
ZK-NAY c/n 23475 Piripiri/Rifleman 1986-2000
ZK-NAZ c/n 20913 Poaka/Whiteheaded Gull 1988-1995
ZK-NQC c/n 22994 Piopio/New Zealand Thrush 1982-2000
300 series
ZK-FRE c/n 28742 1999-2009
ZK-NGA c/n 28873 1998-2006
ZK-NGB c/n 29140 1998-2004
ZK-NGC c/n 29189 1998-2004
ZK-NGD c/n 28732 1999-2014
ZK-NGE c/n 28733 1999-2013
ZK-NGF c/n 28734 2000-2012
ZK-NGG c/n 25606 1999-2015
ZK-NGH c/n 25607 1999-2014
ZK-NGI c/n 25608 1999-2015
ZK-NGJ c/n 25609 1999-2015
ZK-NGK c/n 26318 2000-2013
ZK-NGM c/n 28085 2001-2013
ZK-NGN c/n 29072 2001-2006
ZK-NGO c/n 28548 2002-2014
ZK-NGP c/n 27459 2008-2015
ZK-NGR c/n 27460 2008-2015
ZK-SJB c/n 28868 2000-2014
ZK-SJC c/n 28738 2001-2013
ZK-SJE c/n 27635 2001-2012
For those who haven't seen it have a look at Paul's most recent work on the aircraft of Air New Zealand available via flash drive: