NEW ROUTES 2026 #7: Air New Zealand from Brisbane with new Business Class

With Australians being loyal to airlines based in the great southern lands, its cousins over the Tasman are often overlooked. Now, sometimes that ignorance is legitimate; they did have a very inferior Business Class cabin, or their fares always seemed pitched above those of Australian-based airlines. But now, Air NZ is putting a competitive network and Business Class offer in the air.

Background

I’m doing a series of posts on new routes to and from Australia. Some are actually new routes, and some are new in the sense of having new aircraft, updated interiors, changed frequencies or other innovations. Looks like there will be nine posts in the series. I’ve already covered, and you can read about Turkish Airlines’ soon-to-be nonstop flights between Australia and Europe and Cathay Pacific’s revived route between Adelaide and Hong Kong. You can also read about Korean Air’s new Business Class Suites 2.0 coming to Sydney and Delta One suites from the East Coast to LAX. Even the revival of Malaysian Airlines as a competitive way to head to Europe is covered in this series.

Brisbane to San Francisco via Auckland on Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand has had a torrid time since the pandemic, hit by engine issues and manufacturing delays. But the Star Alliance member has finally retired its infamous herringbone business class layout. It was an outdated business class format that had passengers facing their neighbours’ socks.

The airline has unveiled its Business Premier and Business Premier Luxe suites. The first two rows of the refreshed Business cabins are dedicated to Premier Luxe, a kind of pseudo-First Class without the title. They offer extra space, a sliding privacy door and guest seating for in-flight dining.

The rollout began in 2025, and is progressively expanding across routes into 2026.

The factory-fresh cabins feature on routes between Auckland and Brisbane, San Francisco, Rarotonga, the Cook Islands and Vancouver. Other services connect North America to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.

Aircraft featuring the new business class

The new cabin is being installed on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner as part of a major retrofit program across Air New Zealand’s long-haul fleet. The first retrofitted aircraft entered service in May 2025. All 14 Dreamliners are expected to receive the new cabin by mid 2026, and new factory-built 787s from 2026 will also feature the same cabin design.

The cabin configuration includes 213 Economy and 33 Premium Economy seats.

Business class cabin configuration

The updated product is called Business Premier, featuring 18 suites in a 1-2-1 configuration. The front row of Business had the four Business Premier Luze suites, also in a 1-2-1 configuration, but with extra floor space and a buddy seat for dining a deux.

The features of the suites include sliding privacy screens, wireless charging, Bluetooth audio, lie-flat beds and more storage space. The Business Premier Luxe suites have a fully closing door, and a larger bed

First routes for the new business class

The first retrofitted aircraft began flying in May 2025. The initial routes include:

• Auckland – Brisbane (first passenger flight)
• Auckland – San Francisco (first long-haul service)
• Auckland – Vancouver
• Auckland – Rarotonga

More routes are being added progressively as additional aircraft complete the retrofit program.

Flight Details

Here are the details for the long-haul route to San Francisco and the short-haul route between Auckland and Brisbane.

Auckland – San Francisco

This is the airline’s flagship North American route and flies four to seven times weekly, depending on the season.

• NZ8 departs Auckland 19:45, arrives 12:05 San Francisco same day
• NZ7 departs San Francisco at 19:50, arrives Auckland at 05:50 + 2 days

Auckland – Brisbane

This was the debut trans-Tasman flight for the new cabin.

• NZ145 departs Auckland at 06:15, arrives Brisbane 07:45
• NZ146 departs Brisbane 11:45, arrives Auckland 17:20

2PAXfly Takeout

If you’re flying to the West Coast of America, then this Brisbane–Auckland–San Francisco route is something to consider. You could be avoiding the US departure chaos of some eastern seaboard airports on the outbound leg . Your transfer in Auckland will be calmer because Auckland Airport feels much more manageable. That calm might be worth the extra travel time, especially once Air NZ completes its lounge refurbishments in Auckland.

I haven’t travelled with Air New Zealand for some time, but this trip, even if just the Brisbane-to-Auckland leg, is quite tempting.