Air New Zealand investigating aircraft using "alternative power" as turboprop fleet is phased out

September 9th 2021

Print Friendly

Air New Zealand (Air NZ) chief operational integrity and safety officer, Captain David Morgan, said the airline's turboprop fleet will be replaced with next generation aircraft powered by something other than conventional jet fuel. Read More » Currently, Air NZ operates 23 Q300s with an average age of 14.5 years and 28 ATR72-600s with an average age of 4.5 years. While the Q300 fleet was "going very, very well", Capt Morgan said Air NZ needed to start thinking about replacing them sometime after 2030. The carrier is in discussions with various manufacturers about a zero-carbon option, he said. "The aircraft that we will replace them with will be powered by some alternative power," Capt Morgan told a CAPA conference, held virtually, yesterday. "That is our expectation." Potential technology options include electric aircraft or so-called green hydrogen. Capt Morgan said the Star Alliance member's first zero-carbon aircraft could potentially be a single-engine aircraft and be used for cargo operations. "I would actually quite like to see, by 2030, an electric aircraft operating, probably as a pilot, as a trial," he said.