5 Nov 2015

More planes for Air NZ

7:09 pm on 5 November 2015

Air New Zealand is buying more turboprop planes, which it says will create an additional 600,000 seats to regional destinations each year.

The airline has announced it will spend about $550 million on 15 new ATR-72-600s.

Chief executive Christopher Luxon says 11 of the 68-seat planes will replace the current ATR-72-500s.

He said once the new planes arrived, the airline would operate 29 ATR aircraft and would be able to fly more regional services.

Earlier this year, Air New Zealand scrapped flights to Kaitaia, Whakatane and Westport.