• Entertainment & Connectivity

Air New Zealand Adds Sport24 Content to Widebody Fleet

August 31, 2023  | Written by Stephanie Taylor

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From August 30, passengers traveling on Air New Zealand’s Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 aircraft will have access to live TV content from Sport24 via Panasonic Avionics’ embedded in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems. 

The content is available as part of a trial and will allow passengers to tune into the Rugby World Cup, which begins on September 8, as well as the National Rugby League, Premier League and more.

To announce the introduction of live sports content to its IFE programming, Air New Zealand created a humorous video for social media laying out some ground rules, such as “cheering is encouraged, but please remain seated” and “please respect your neighbors, in case they’re enjoying something a little different.”

Leanne Geraghty, Air New Zealand’s chief customer and sales officer, commented, “We’ve been on a mission to give customers the best entertainment options in the skies and with Wi-Fi enabled across our widebody fleet, adding live sport is a fantastic way to give customers access to even more content so they never have to miss a minute of the game.”

The last of the carrier’s Boeing 777s re-entered service in May 2023 after four were stored in the Mojave desert during the COVID-19 pandemic. Air New Zealand currently operates seven of the type. 

The same month, the airline announced an upcoming refit of its 787-9 aircraft that will include its Economy Skynest product, which is a zone of six sleep pods offered to passengers for limited periods of time so they can lie down for a few hours on ultra-long-haul flights. The Skynest pods will also feature on the carrier’s eight new Dreamliners, which will be delivered from next year.  

Skynest will enter service from September 2024 on Air New Zealand’s Auckland–New York and Auckland–Chicago routes.