Review of Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Melbourne in Economy

Air New Zealand ZK-OJO NZ729 Auckland - Melbourne
Flight details:
Airlines: Air New Zealand
Flight No: NZ729 AKL - MEL
Reg: ZK-OJO
Aircraft: Airbus A320-232
Departure Auckland International Gate 2: 18:46 NZST
Arrival Melbourne Terminal 2 Gate 5: 20:37 AEST
Flight time: 3 hours 51 minutes
Distance: 2,508 km
Full trip video: Air New Zealand ZK-OJO NZ729 Auckland - Melbourne
Do watch and experience the flight.

Introduction
This flight is from 2018 returning from New Zealand. Booking was to arrive in Christchurch and depart from Auckland. Read Christchurch arrival: Air New Zealand ZK-OJO NZ898 Melbourne - Christchurch
Had booked this flight months before. Return flight was NZ125 on Boeing 787-9 departing at AKL Departure :15:15 MEL Arrival: 17:20. A month and half before the flight, it was cancelled. Had to change the car parking, car hire. Had chose NZ125 for the Boeing 787-9 and to avoid the evening rush at Melbourne. Wasn't to happen, got the same aircraft which had flew to Christchurch.
Checked the flight details

Arriving at the Auckland Airport
Arrived early. Had check-in the flight before coming to airport. After dropping the rental car, walked to the checkin area.

Flight Schedule

LATAM Check-in area

Check-in
Check-in was through self-check kiosk for this flight. Had weighted the bag earlier , knew it was underweight. Went to self-check kiosk, scanned the passport, answered the usual questions, boarding pass and baggage tags were printed. Took the bag to drop-bag where bag was weighed and scanned.

Departure
Departure area is upstairs at Auckland. All passengers have to fill the departure Immigration forms . Went to the food court for some meal before boarding as had booked seat + bag.
Auckland Airport is undergoing construction, the viewing gallery was closed. With nothing else to do, decided to head for immigration.

Immigration and Security
Immigration had self-check or through officer. Was directed to join the queue for the immigration officer, when my passport is smart gate compliant. Took sometime for the processing to complete, while in queue was asked about destination and nationality. While the smart gate was quicker.
Security queue was short but lacked trays, had to wait to get tray. Took about 10-15 mins.

Duty Free area

Long walk to gate
Gate number is not displayed until an hour before boarding commences. Not sure if its done to avoid crowding near gate or to keep people shopping.

Food Court
Smaller food court with limited food options. Spent the last few NZ$, had coffee and sandwich. Coffee was terrible. Chucked it after couple of sips.

More Shopping
Walking to towards gate area. Not knowing the gate number.

Gate information
Flight would depart from gate 2

To Gate
Walked towards the gate, which is accessible taking the escalator down.

Airside view

Air New Zealand ZK-OJO operating NZ 729 to Melbourne

Boarding
Announcement was made that the flight was delayed by 15 minutes. Waited for boarding to be called.

On board
Boarding commenced shortly, long queue had formed. It was a full flight. Passport and boarding pass was checked.
Being one of the first few to board, didn't have to wait long to be on board the aircraft. On board, boarding pass was checked and directed to seat. Being a all economy flight Airbus A320. seating is 3-3.

Boarding
Flight being full the overhead bins were full with passengers having to put bags under seat.

Window view

Latam on the way to Santiago

Seat view

Kia Ora

[Hello]
Touchscreen IFE.

Air New Zealand ZK-OJB

Flight information

Flight map

Destination information

Flight details

Ready for pushback and taxi
Pushback commenced after passengers had boarded.

Flight details

Taxi and takeoff
After a long taxi to runway 23L, departed Auckland. Watch video for taxi and departure.
Seat pocket material

Air New Zealand A320R Safety Card

Australian immigration form
Australian immigration forms were distributed. Completed soon as was prepared with pen and passport details.

Flight details
Flying over the Tasman sea, seat belt sign came on. hit a few minor bumps along the way. Cockpit crew announced they had avoided the weather flying higher.

Cabin view

Tea /Coffee and Water
Cabin commenced shortly after the sign was turned off. Tea/coffee was available. Meals were provided to passengers who had opted for "The Works" or Buy on Board [BOB] .
Had my fill earlier before boarding, skipped the meal.

Inflight Entertainment [IFE]

Air New Zealand fleet information
Checked the Air New Zealand fleet information. Below are the details.
Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing 777-200ER

Boeing 787-9

Airbus A320-200

ATR 72-500/600

Bombardier Q300

Flight information

Flight path
Reaching the Australian shores

Flight details

Cabin view
Lights were dimmed after the cabin service.

IFE remote

Movies
Checked movies available on payment.

Flight map
Reached South East of Victoria

Flight Details

Approaching Melbourne

Taxi

Arrived at Gate 5

Flight Information

Landing details

Full flight details

Disembarkation

Immigration
Having arrived into evening peak, long queue was formed at self-check kiosk to fill smart gate details. Skipped the smart gate and went to immigration officer. No questions asked passport was scanned and handed back.
Baggage Collection
Baggage took 10-15 mins to arrive.
Quarantine and Exit
Long queue was formed at Quarantine check, as had nothing to declare. Was allowed to pass through the exit. Took about an hour after landing to exit the airport.
Car Park
As was exiting the terminal, saw the long term car park bus at the kerb, rushed to get on board. Once on board settled till the arriving at the bus stop.
Found my car. Felt good to be back in the comfort of own vehicle after driving small car during the trip. Headed to exit and on to Tullamarine Freeway.
Hope you enjoyed the trip, Thanks for reading.
End of trip
:)