Review of Air New Zealand flight from Queenstown to Auckland in Economy

Introduction

Hello and welcome to the 3rd flight review in this series taking us down to beautiful New Zealand. After a fantastic week of exploring the amazingly gorgeous South Island, we headed to the North Island to spend a few days in the Rotorua area. 

Although there is an airport in Rotorua, we would have had to connect through Auckland either way, so we just flew into Auckland and got a rental car there so we had the freedom to explore along the way. 

Routing

Flights in this series

Pre-flight & Check-in

We arrived at Queenstown airport about an hour and a half before departure time. The airport is quite small and can get very crowded in peak summer season, so we didn't want to arrive too early, especially as there are no Priority pass lounges at the domestic gates–there is one lounge in the international section, which is only accessible for international flights. 

As we didn't have any bags to check, we headed straight to security. 

There was a very long queue at security which extended out into the main hall of the terminal. 

It took a good half hour to get through the security queue. Getting through security was quick once we got to the front as you don't have to take anything out of cabin baggage, same as in Auckland. 

It was very crowded and cramped at the domestic gates. After some searching we were able to find a corner with a high counter and bar stools. It was actually nice because there were power outlets and even USB-C ports. 

Funny enough, we would have the same aircraft as we had on the outbound flight, ZK-OXK

Boarding

We headed to our gate a few minutes before boarding was due to begin and it was also very crowded. 

Luckily, we weren't too far back in the boarding queue so we should be ok for space in the overhead lockers. 

A beautiful day for flying…and for tarmac boarding! Not a cloud in the sky.

Once again we boarded through the rear stairs as we were behind the overwing exit rows.

Air New Zealand's domestic A320s have 171 seats in a typical 3-3 configuration. The seats are the same Collins Aerospace Pinnacle model found on British Airways narrowbodies, though without the adjustable headrests or in-seat power found on BA.

Only 171 seats in an all-Economy configuration makes for a less dense cabin than the typical 180-186 seat all-Economy configurations, allowing for a bit more legroom. 

Air New Zealand's website provides a lot of detailed information about aircraft and cabin configurations. 

They even list the seat pitch down to the row and seat! This is great information as pitch can vary by row in most configurations. 

Our seats in row 20 on the left side have 76cm (30 in) of seat pitch. That's quite decent for short-haul configurations. Interesting to know that the seat spacing is not the same on the left side as the right side, which is pretty typical. We had 78cm (31 in) of seat pitch on the flight down sitting in the same row, but on the right side. 

As usual, Air New Zealand and Jetstar dominate in New Zealand's domestic terminals. 

The Flight

Boarding is quick when boarding through both the forward and rear doors so everything was closed up and ready to go a few minutes ahead of schedule. 

We pushed back from the parking stand as the safety video played on the overhead monitors. 

And off we go on another scenic flight on this beautiful day

Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains of the Southern Alps

We got some great views of Queenstown on the climb out.

I believe this is Mount Aspiring

Trivia questions played on the overhead screens throughout the flight, providing a bit of entertainment in addition to the in-flight magazine. 

The Glenorchy area at the Dart river delta on the west side of lake Wakatipu. You'll find some photos of this are in the tourism bonus at the end. 

Endless majestic mountain landscapes as we flew along the Southern Alps on our way north. On such a clear day we could easily see to the Tasman sea on the other side of the island. 

Like on the flight down, a small snack was served along with a choice of water, coffee, or tea. 

We left the South Island behind over Farewell Point, the northernmost point of the South Island. 

Arriving at the North Island over Hāwera in the Taranaki region.

We had amazing views of Mount Taranaki, a large conical volcano reminiscent of Mount Fuji. 

Standing 2518 metres (8261 ft) high, Mount Taranaki is the second highest mountain on the North Island.

As with the outbound flight, cabin crew distributed candies towards the end of the flight, thanking passengers for flying Air New Zealand, which is a very nice gesture. 

A scenic descent into AKL

AKL and its single runway in view

We landed a bit ahead of schedule

Taxiing past all the international airlines at the Intl terminal

We arrived at the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule. 

Once again we deplaned through the rear stairs. 

As we had no checked baggage we headed straight to pick up the rental car and were on our way to Rotorua.