Editorial: Air New Zealand is shooting for the moon - what about the other things?

Air New Zealand has selected BETA battery power planes to trial. Image / Supplied

EDITORIAL

Air New Zealand can take inspiration but should also heed the lesson from President John F Kennedy’s bold pledge in 1962.

In his famous speech at Rice University, he said, ‘’We choose to go the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard ...’’

The US did get to the moon in 1969, but the picture was much murkier when it came to the country achieving the ‘’other things.’’ Air New Zealand aims to start replacing its regional fleet with lower-emission planes by 2030, seemingly less ambitious although fiendishly difficult.

Air travel is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. There is nothing available now that comes close to delivering the bang for the buck for airlines as aviation gas made from traditional fossil fuel.

But the New Zealand airline this week has taken a significant step on the journey to finding an alternative.

It will buy a battery-powered plane from US-based BETA to fly on short routes from 2026, initially for freight flights only. The seven-year-old Vermont company has flown hundreds of test flights of up to 600km on a single charge. Its prototype model plane can carry up to six passengers and is now going through regulatory checks in the US and will soon be in this country.

Battery planes are quiet, require much less maintenance and a recharge is a fraction the cost for traditional aircraft. But batteries are heavy and while the power they deliver is improving by the year, that is why they will be used only in smaller aircraft.

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran says the deal marks a new chapter, a small but important step in a much larger journey for Air New Zealand.

He rightly says decarbonising aviation isn’t easy but there needs to be an acceleration in the pace of change in the technology, infrastructure, operations and regulation. The challenge has been put to the Civil Aviation Authority to assess the BETA aircraft as soon as possible.

Throughout the airline industry there is a rush to cut the impact on the planet of aviation, responsible for between 2 per cent and 4 per cent of emissions. Foran has said this is the most important challenge his airline faces. The need to help fight global warming neatly aligns with commercial aspirations. Alternatives to Jet A1 fuel will in the long term be less expensive and airlines, and their passengers, will face increasing pollution penalties.

But Air New Zealand also faces more traditional challenges.

It must run a safe, stable and affordable network. This means answering passenger queries in a timely fashion, charging competitive and fair prices and ensuring flight delays and cancellations are minimised. This won’t be easy as engine maintenance problems not of the airline’s making continue to affect it and its passengers must pass through airports that are strained at times.

Air New Zealand’s version of a moonshot is now underway and that must be commended. It must make sure it applies the same energy to its ‘’other things”.