The Route

The route between New Zealand’s largest city and New Caledonia’s La Tontouta International Airport is perhaps one of the more unique and certainly less frequented of the flight routes out of Auckland. Nonetheless, two airlines service the route, namely Aotearoa’s flagship Air New Zealand and New Caledonia’s home based Air Calin. The two airlines combine as codeshare partners and offer just 4 return services per week between the two airlines whom you can book each others flights on. Air NZ operate a service departing Auckland Wednesday and Saturday mornings operating a mixture of A320 and A321 Neo aircraft whilst AirCalin ply the route on Thursday and Sundays with afternoon departures on both there A320 Neo and A330 Neo aircraft.

The flight time from Auckland to Noumea is little over 3 hours heading in a rather due north direction. Given the rather small frequency of services between New Zealand and New Caledonia don’t expect fierce competition on the route nor any bargain basement fares. Those hoping to fly business class will need to opt to fly Air Calin although as you’ll find out Air New Zealand’s Work’s Deluxe product offered a perfectly acceptable alternative for the relatively short day time flight at a reasonable price of AUD$381 on this occasion.

Air New Zealand Fare Structure

Whilst Air New Zealand is by no sense a budget airline in the traditional sense, the airline has a mixed and flexible fare structure offering that differs depending on destination. All of Air New Zealand’s long haul international flights (such as to North America and Asia) are fully inclusive of a luggage allowance and food and beverage. Air New Zealand’s domestic services are economy only with no meals or drinks included (except water, tea and coffee although passengers can buy from an onboard menu). On it flights to Australia and the Pacific Islands passengers can choose from 4 economy bundles which are Seat, Seat+Bag, The Works or Works Deluxe which come in an ascending level of inclusions. Flights operated by widebody aircraft also offer Business Class. Whilst some might not be a fan of the A la Carte fare structure on Trans-Tasman and other short haul international flights they do give the passenger potentially flexibility in only paying for the inclusions they need.

Checking in at Auckland

After spending the night before at a nearby Auckland Airport hotel after flying up from Christchurch the evening before getting to the airport only involved a leisurely 10 minute walk this morning. If you are however travelling from the city we would recommend pre booking the nationwide SuperShuttle service especially for an early morning departure. Arriving just after 5am and expecting the significant crowds and logger heads at security that had been recently published in the media and about how the airport was struggling to cope with I was surprised to see the airport was still quite quiet although not all the tell tale signs of over 2 years of the Covid Pandemic had disappeared quite yet.

Arriving just after 5am I was able to immediately check in for the flight to Noumea with a Air NZ staff member nearby eager to ensure the process was smooth and efficient. The Works Deluxe product that i had purchased had entitled me to priority check in (and boarding) but with no crowds there was no real need to use it anyway. Like with my Qantas flight out of Sydney several weeks earlier I was able to use the self-service kiosks and automated bag drop facilities which only took a minute or two to complete. It is great to see this technology becoming even more accessible to international travelers on an increasing amount of airlines. This morning I was flying economy so I did not have access to priority security and immigration although at this early morning hour it took only mere minutes to become airside.

Strata Lounge Auckland Airport

On this morning’s flight I did not have access to Air New Zealand’s Lounge although fortunately with my Crytpo.com Royal Indigo Card entitling me free Lounge Key membership I was able to access the Auckland Airport owned general use Strata Lounge. Whilst it is not the largest or most elaborate of lounges it is still nonetheless classy and there was plentiful of comfortable and varied seating options allowing for both leisure and work. Strata Lounge Auckland is also apart of the Priority Pass Network with membership really well suited to intermediate level travelers with no particular airline loyalty. Now is a great time to join with up to 50% discount on memberships available here

The lounge does not offer direct views of the runway but instead offers views over the departure shopping concourse so it is a great place to watch the hustle and bustle of the airport’s passengers going by. Food available for this mid Wednesday morning flights out of Auckland consisted of a self-serve buffet serving popular continental breakfast favorites in addition to a self-serve espresso machine which provided for a more than adequate breakfast and morning caffeine fix. Alcohol is available at any time the lounge is open which contrasts with many domestic lounges such as the Qantas Club where it is not available until noon. Free and fast Wi-Fi is also available for those who need to get down to work or be productive. After an enjoyable few hours or so having breakfast and a well-made flat-white I found it quickly time to board my flight taking us up to Noumea. You can read more about our visit to the lounge in our review here.

Seating in Economy Class

Today’s flight was on a typical Airbus A320, the workhorse behind all of Air New Zealand’s domestic jet services and also many of its short haul Trans-Tasman and South Pacific routes. The internationally configured Air New Zealand A320 has 168 seats in an all economy 3-3 configuration. Whilst there is no business class offered on any of Air New Zealand’s A320 and A321 Aircraft there is certainly plenty of ways to snag a more spacious seat with certain seats in row 1-11 being ‘Space+Seats’ offering better legroom whilst Works Deluxe Passengers will be seated in either Row 1 or 2 with a guaranteed empty middle seat.

On this flight we were seated in 1A which offered plenty of extra leg room and of course the vacant middle seat. The only perhaps downside of this seat is the center armrest which can not be lowered which acts to partly hinder the utility of a vacant extra seat but it can still be useful for keeping your own personal possessions within easy reach. Overall for about an extra $90 over the cost of the Works Bundle and considering the cost of purchasing extra leg row seat separately overall the Works Deluxe package offers great value.

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

Air New Zealand for its Australian and short haul pacific island flights operates on a A la Carte booking structure where passengers can choose the level of inclusions with their fare. Whilst all passengers including those on only the Seat or Seat+Bag fare will have access to free water, tea and coffee those who have paid for ‘The Works’ or indeed ‘Works Deluxe’ are offered a hot meal and complimentary drinks.

Shortly after takeoff on this morning flight the crew were quick to bring the drinks cart around and we were offered scramble eggs which hit the spot. Whilst I was unsure initially how generous the airline would be in offering complimentary drinks they were certainly not afraid to be continually offering them. A great innovation of Air New Zealand is being able to order food and drink via the inflight entertainment system which is a great way to understand what is offer and saving having to ask the cabin crew both initially to ask for something and also to explain the menu offerings. For those on the most basic fare inclusions the systems allows passengers to pay for their order via the IFE and for those with Works or Works Deluxe package the system will highlight the free inclusions ( A small amount of more premium beverages can still be purchased. On this flight the crew were exceptionally attentive and returned with my ordered drinks within a minute or two of ordering.

Overall, the cabin crew were outstanding on this flight and you could really tell that they enjoying working on this flight to the French Overseas Territory this morning. With a very quiet pax load and the plane being less than half full they seemed eager to engage with the balanced passenger ratio of kiwi holiday makers and French nationals returning home.

Entertainment

 This Airbus A320 came equipped with seat back or in arm-rest IFE for all of its economy class only cabin. Whilst still rather small Air New Zealand’s IFE provides a reasonably good (if not overly extensive) range of tv shows, movies, music and the inflight moving map. On this flight, eager to see the scenery after takeoff off from Auckland up past the Bay of Island Bay of Island and north into the Pacific Ocean I didn’t however use the IFE other than to track the flights progress. No Wi-Fi is offered on this short haul international flight,  For those reliant on a good entrainment to get through a longer flight I would recommend bringing your own device loaded with content just in case you don’t fancy Air New Zealand’s offering.

Landing in New Caledonia

After little over 2 and half hours of flying we had quickly swapped the chilly winter of New Zealand for balmy tropics of New Caledonia. The descent in New Caledonia’s La Tontouta International Airport located around 40km to the north of Noumea provides spectacular views of the the main island of Grand Terre’s tropical coastline and rugged interior.

Arriving in New Caledonia was super easy and with it being such a small airport, there was basically no walk to customs and immigration that were welcoming and quickly processed one of only a few flights for the day. A small duty free is available after the immigration counter and before luggage claim and customs but we advise there is generally better value and variety to be had at an Australian or New Zealand airport. Due to the lengthy distance of over 40km and nearly 1 hour drive to central Noumea we recommend pre-booking a shuttle transfer before arriving which can also be arranged by most hotels. Alternatively shuttle transfers can be purchased on arrival. We recommend using the main shuttle operator Arc En Ciel. Do expect the possibility of waiting until all passengers have cleared customs though as the shuttles are timed to meet each of the few arriving flights daily.

Summing Up

Overall this morning’s flight was really good for what it was worth and one of the best experiences flying in economy that we had ever experienced. Compared to recently disrupted flights back in Australia, Air New Zealand were punctual and on-time and the service of the crew was really good. Air New Zealand’s Work Deluxe product ticks all the right boxes for those flying economy class who would otherwise want (and likely purchase) all the extra bells and whistles (or are unable to fly Business due to lack of its offering).

The Works Deluxe package came out at $134 than the cheapest possible booking which included nothing more than a 7kg carry on allowance or around $90 more than the Works which came with a 23kg allowance, food and beverage and entertainment. For the extra money spent you are also getting a guaranteed neighbor free seat, 2 23kg baggage allowances and premium check in and boarding and of course some of the best seats on the plane in row 1 and 2 including the extra leg room seats. That being said I am confident regardless of what airfare package all the passengers had purchased on this particular flight that they had an enjoyable flight in line with the expectation of what they had paid for.