Air New Zealand to Wet Lease a Wamos Air A330 - Again

Air New Zealand is wet leasing a Wamos Air A330-300 over the southern 2025/26 summer. The airline calls it a “proactive measure.” Air New Zealand has several out of service B787-9s owing to a cabin refurbishment program and issues with the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines used to power the planes. The wet lease deal helps plug the capacity gay.

Aero South Pacific has identified the aircraft as EC-OLG (msn 1201), a 14.7-year-old A330-300 currently operating between Madrid (MAD), Havana (HAV) and Santo Domingo (SDQ). It will start flying for Air New Zealand on October 30, 2025, and will remain with the airline until April 30, 2026.

“This is a short-term, proactive measure that will help us deliver our schedule during a busy travel period and ensure we get our customers to where they need to go,” says a statement on the Air New Zealand website.

The 264-passenger three class aircraft (185 economy + 48 premium economy + 31 business seats) aligns closely with the existing Air New Zealand widebody cabin configurations. Per wet-leasing norms, Wamos Air will supply the flight and cabin crews. However, they will provide an in-flight service “familiar to Air New Zealand passengers.”

Air New Zealand has wet-leased Wamos Air A330s before. Most recently, the Madrid-based airline operated a daily Auckland (AKL) – Perth (PER) – Auckland rotation for the airline over the 2023/24 summer.

What flights the Wamos Air A330 will operate

Air New Zealand says the A330 will operate “select services between Auckland and Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Tokyo and Bali.” The airline presently operates a B777-300ERs to Tokyo Narita (NRT) and B787-9s Denpasar (DPS), plus a combination of narrow and widebodies to Nadi (NAN), Papeete (PPT), and Apia (APW).

Specifically, updated timetable data shows the aircraft will operate three of the daily round-trips between Auckland and Tokyo Narita (NZ94/95) between October 30, 2025, and March 28, 2026. Air New Zealand’s booking portal shows the Wamos A330 replacing their B787-9 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Between October 31 and November 30, 2025, the Wamos A330 will replace Air New Zealand’s B777-300ER operated round-trips between Auckland and Nadi (NZ952/953). It will also take over the same flights operated by a B787-9 on Fridays and Sundays over the same dates.

The Wamos A330 will replace the Air New Zealand’s B777-300ER that operates Monday’s round-trip between Auckland and Apia (NZ992/993) from November 3, 2025. On December 2, this will expand to replace the B787-9 operated round-trips (also NZ992/993) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Between December 1, 2025, and March 26, 2026, the Wamos Air A330-300 will replace Air New Zealand’s B777-300ER on their Monday round-trip between Auckland and Papeete (NZ902/903).

Finally, between March 30 and April 29, 2026, the A330 will fly a daily Auckland – Denpasar – Auckland rotation (NZ290/291) on behalf of Air New Zealand. That airline now uses a B787-9 on the route and only operates it three days a week. Air New Zealand’s booking portal confirms the increase in flights over the period.

“Wamos Air has supported us well before, and we’re confident they’ll deliver for our customers again,” Air New Zealand Chief Commercial Officer Jeremy O’Brien said in a statement.

Ten B777-300ERs and fourteen B787-9s support Air New Zealand's international operations. While the B777-300ERs have proved reliable and all remain in service, the B787-9s have proved more problematic because of a durability issue causing premature wear and cracking in the turbine blades and compressor components within the Rolls Royce manufactured engines. Two B787-9s are out of service because of this. Another two B787-9s are in Singapore as part of a cabin refurbishment program. 

There are also similar problems with Air New Zealand's domestic-configured A321-200Ns, albeit due to a different engine manufacturer. As a result, Air New Zealand has actively sourced replacement aircraft to maintain its schedules.

Photo: Air New Zealand.