Onboard delights
The business class cabin is organised in a 1-2-1 configuration, meaning my seat in 2K has both window views and aisle access. The two adjacent seats in the centre of the plane have a sliding divider between them, so that two passengers who know each other might book such a pair and keep that divider down. My seat has full lie-flat recline and linens in the overhead compartment above. The crew are keen to make up the bed for me when the time comes, and offer continuously, but I do it myself when they’re not looking because I’m on my own timeline. A sliding partial screen shuts below waist level, providing the most privacy when you’re fully reclined.
The headrest has the option of lifting up, even when the seat is fully reclined, so that I can lie back but still watch my 24” inflight entertainment screen. In-flight, I watch Brazilian film and recent Oscar winner I’m Still Here, which is great, but I do feel like there could be more Kiwi cinema on board (writer’s note: there is a collection of 25 New Zealand-made cinema and television including Whale Rider, which I watch on the way over, and Lord of the Rings – I was hoping Once Were Warriors would be there but alas).
There are also many compartments here, there, and everywhere in which you can store your personal items. There’s one just below the screen, several in the console between my seat and the window, and another between my seat and the sliding screen. Be sure to take stock of where you’ve put what, because I fully disembark without my amenity kit – lost in the shadows of the compartment at my feet – and have to return and ask a steward to retrieve it despite my first-on, first-off privileges. Amenity kits, by the way, include Aotea Kawakawa Balm, Aotea Harekeke Hand & Body Cream, socks, a bamboo toothbrush, toothpaste, pen, and ear plugs, with an eye mask also available on request.