Air New Zealand is marking the end of an era spanning more than three decades as it operates its last Boeing 767 service on Friday.

The Boeing 767-300ER operating flight NZ108  is due to fly out of Sydney at 6.35 pm local time and land in Auckland just before midnight New Zealand time.

The kiwi carrier has been operating the widebody Boeing twin-engine jet since September, 1985 and this week retires its two remaining 767 to make way for the fuel-efficient Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner as part of a fleet simplification program.

That plan will see sees the airline operate a simplified fleet of Airbus A320s, Boeing 777s and the 787-9s.  AIrNZ has 13 Dreamliners on order with two more due to arrive later this year as part of a delivery schedule running until late 2018.

The two 767s have been sold and to be converted to freighters.

Air NZ operated both the -300 and -200 variants of the 767 and used the aircraft on most of its long-haul routes as well as across the Tasman.

“The Boeing 767 aircraft has been a stalwart at Air New Zealand for more than 30 years now but moving to operate the modern 787-9 Dreamliners on our long-haul routes will allow us to be more efficient and have a consistent wide-body fleet which will deliver benefits to both the business and customers,’’ Air NZ chief operations integrity and standards officer David Morgan said.

 “The use of the larger Dreamliners will result in a capacity increase of around three percent on the trans-Tasman and Pacific Island routes.  Customers also get to experience our Business Premier and Premium Economy cabins on the 787-9 aircraft.” 

The popular 767 was Boeing first twin-engine jet, the manufacturer’s first with a two-crew glass cockpit and sported a “super critical” wing design. 
It was introduced into commercial service by AirNZ partner United Airlines in 1982.

Initially used on US domestic services, it achieved a milestone in 1985 when it received regulatory approval for extended overseas flights and later came to dominate trans-Atlantic services.

Not counting military variants, Boeing produced  six members of the 767 family: The 767-200, -200ER, 767-300 stretched version, -300ER, -300 Freighter, and 767-400ER with its 5,600-nautical mile range overwater.