The Boeing 787 is smaller and more fuel-efficient than the 747. The first 787 is not due to fly commercially until 2008.
Air New Zealand has ordered four more Boeing 787-9 jets as it seeks further international growth and considers new routes.
The jets - which double Air New Zealand's order of the 787-9s to eight - have a list price of $1 billion but the airline said it "received
a significant discount" because it was the second customer to order the 787 aircraft.
Dubbed Dreamliners, the 787s are Boeing's next-generation long-range aircraft.
Smaller than the 747, they are more fuel-efficient and are made mostly from carbon composites rather than metal. The first planes are not due to fly commercially until 2008.
"These new aircraft will provide Air New Zealand with a solid platform to realise its growth ambitions over the next decade," said strategic development manager Nathan Agnew.
He did not specify where they would be used, but said: "Given their capability to fly direct to regions like South Africa, India, South America, Asia and deep into China and North America, we will have some exciting new opportunities to pursue."
Air New Zealand said it was committed to launching at least one new international route every year and expected to announce a new route in the next few months. It reconfigured its long-haul routes this year to focus on North Asia, launching flights to Shanghai and flying to Europe via Hong Kong rather than Singapore.
The first of the Boeing 787-9s - which Air New Zealand says use 20 per cent less fuel than comparable aircraft flying today - will be delivered in 2011 and the last in 2013.
Shares in Air New Zealand closed down 7c yesterday at $1.82.
