British skies easier to fly

Inflight entertainment systems are part of the Air New Zealand refit on long-haul jets. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Transport Minister Pete Hodgson will today sign a landmark aviation deal allowing New Zealand airlines to operate unlimited flights into and out of Britain.

The deal, first announced in late May, removes almost all restrictions on air services between and beyond the two countries.

Although the deal allows Air NZ to increase flights beyond the present daily services, any such improvement depends on getting access to landing and takeoff slots at Heathrow.

Air NZ has long wanted to move to more flights, particularly during the peak of the summer tourist season.

As a result of the new deal, the airline has decided to refit all eight of its Boeing 747-400 jets.

All long-haul jets - including the eight soon-to-be delivered Boeing 777-200LRs - will be fitted with the new lie-flat business class seats and inflight entertainment systems.

Air NZ is working through the process of getting suitable take-off and landing slots at Heathrow.

The daily services have been allowed since 1997, but the Government has been trying to get this allowance increased ever since. The latest round of talks has been under way since June 2002.

While the agreement is known as "pure" - without any conditions - an attached memorandum says Britain reserves the right to limit the number of passengers Air NZ can fly between London's two main international airports and the US. This is because of the restrictions on UK airlines flying these routes under a deal with the US Government.