Air New Zealand notes 'enormous' impact of B787 delays

Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe as quoted in IATA's Airlines International, stated (01-Aug-2011) the carrier's strongest markets are Australia, the UK, US and Japan. He noted that while the UK and the US "are very steady", the carrier is "seeing a lot of growth from the Asia Pacific region; not only India and China but places such as Vietnam, too. So there is a definite shift eastwards in our traffic, which is in line with the industry trend." He also stated the B787 delay has had an "enormous impact on us". He added that the lack of clarity over the delay has "made it very difficult to make decisions on our future strategy". The carrier expects to have the B787 in operation in 2013. Mr Fyfe also noted that as New Zealand is "at the end of the line, geographically speaking", it is dependent on its Star Alliance partnership to make some routes viable.