Air New Zealand passengers without films for 15 hours get just $60

Travellers were reportedly given a 90-minute warning of the situation before NZ27 departed Chicago bound for Auckland.

Good flying conditions meant the 787-9, ZK-NZN, touched down after 15 hours and 15 minutes, though previous trips have stretched beyond 16 hours.

It comes after a string of recent problems has affected the airline’s ability to fly direct from Auckland to New York using its Dreamliners.

Critics have suggested the current 787-9’s range simply isn’t long enough to accommodate the 16 or 17-hour flight if unforeseen events cause it to have to slightly change its route.

On one flight, 15 passengers were asked to get off the aircraft to save weight, while on another, luggage was removed and put on another flight.

There have also been numerous warnings a stop would have to be made in Nadi, but so far, they have been avoided.

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The distance issues come because the 787-9s have a traditional range of 14,010km, far shorter than the A350-1000s that Qantas will eventually use to fly Project Sunrise flights to New York and London, which can travel for near 18,000km.

Air New Zealand has insisted the 787-9 is the “right aircraft” to fly the service – despite also being set to take delivery of new, specially adapted Dreamliners for the route in 2024 that will carry fewer passengers and effectively extend its range.

The business’ chief operational integrity officer, David Morgan, told Australian Aviation that working on ultra-long-haul flights is “challenging”.

“The plans we had in place were based on a level of operational surety – but we have come up against some challenges with weather outside our usual forecasting,” he said.

“Because extra fuel is needed when the weather doesn’t play in our favour, we’ve had to make a number of changes, including reducing payload, to operate the flight safely, and these changes will flow through for the next few months. A number of airlines have been disrupted by this same weather pattern and it is common practice to reduce customer numbers on flights when weather calls for it.”