Overview
- Air New Zealand, which announced the Skynest on Wednesday, will fit six bunk-style sleep pods between Economy and Premium Economy on Boeing 787-9 jets.
- Passengers keep their regular seats but can reserve one four-hour lie-down slot that the airline says aligns with natural sleep cycles.
- Bookings open May 18, 2026 for selected long-haul flights, with first use in November 2026 on the roughly 17-hour Auckland–New York route.
- Each pod includes a full-length mattress, fresh bedding, a privacy curtain, dimmed lighting, ventilation, charging ports, and a sleep kit, with rules that ban food and shared use.
- The airline says it developed and trialed the concept over several years with more than 200 participants to boost comfort on very long flights out of New Zealand.