Veteran Travelled As Much As 100 Round Trips To The Moon

Air New Zealand's first Boeing 747-400, registration ZK-NBS, will depart Auckland for the last time today and fly to the USA where it will be dismantled for parts.

The aircraft will depart at 5.20pm and fly to Los Angeles, stopping briefly so crew can clear customs before continuing on to its final destination in Roswell, New Mexico.

The aircraft arrived in Auckland from Boeing's Seattle factory in December 1989. While at Air New Zealand it has completed more than 11,400 flights, flown over 88,300 hours (that's more than 10 years, or half its life, in the air) and travelled an estimated 80 million kilometres (the equivalent of 100 round trips to the moon or more than 2,000 return trips to London).

For its last flight, the aircraft has had its livery removed as well as all interior furnishings such as seats and cabinetry.

"The final flight of NBS is a sad and very visible example of the affects of the economic downturn on Air New Zealand," says Air New Zealand Group General Manager International Airline Ed Sims.

"We are seeing long-haul demand down more than 10%, reflected in last week's decision to reduce Hong-Kong – London services from daily to five times per week."

"We are very focused on ensuring capacity closely meets demand and are utilising the more fuel-efficient 777 fleet as much as possible to reduce long-haul fuel costs."