Air NZ gives shareholders no earnings guidance and no date for a London return
Air New Zealand shareholders asked when the airline would start "making healthy earnings" again. Chair Dame Therese Walsh's answer was short: "We have no guidance."
The annual meeting was held online only on Thursday 24 September, according to an NZX announcement published by BusinessDesk. Shareholders at the meeting were told the airline would most likely have been on a path to profit this year if the Middle East crisis hadn't sent jet fuel prices soaring, the NZ Herald reported.
On London, Walsh said: "We review our network regularly. London remains within that consideration set." She also said: "We're not looking to operate London any time soon."
Air NZ dropped its London service in 2020. Anyone booking a trip from New Zealand to the UK still needs to connect through a hub in Asia, the Middle East or North America. Walsh noted that Christchurch, not Auckland, has lately been the airline's choice for new widebody services. For South Island travellers, that means more long-haul departures from their own airport.
The widebody fleet of Boeing 777s and 787s is back at full strength, the Herald reported, and cabin refurbishments are under way. The domestic and short-haul fleet has been hit by engine problems in recent years. Only one narrowbody jet is still grounded.
Chief executive Nikhil Ravishankar said the airline had cut labour costs and had "recently … had to go through another round of restructure".
Two director nominees spoke. Campbell Wilson, former chief executive of Air India, told the meeting he spent seven years at the budget carrier Scoot before that. "We took it from an Excel spreadsheet to a fleet of nearly 70 aircraft," he said.
One online attendee asked whether the board had considered Wilson's record at Air India, whose Flight 171 crashed in June 2025 and killed 241 people on board. Walsh said his time in India had "absolutely" been considered. "He has strong experience in Asia which is one of our key markets," she said.
Rob McDonald, a former Air NZ chief financial officer, is the other nominee. He criticised "the failure of successive Governments" on airports. The Herald reported that aviation system costs, meaning the charges airlines pay to use airports and other infrastructure, were again named as one of the airline's biggest pressures. Passengers pay those costs through their fares.
Air NZ has no plans to fly battery-electric planes across Cook Strait. Asked about electric aircraft such as the Beta Alia CX300 trialled on that route, Walsh said: "We've completed that programme and don't have any future plans."
A member of the New Zealand Shareholders' Association objected to holding the meeting online only, saying "shareholders view hybrid costs as good costs."