I am sitting in seat 2E, a middle seat (with an empty side seat next to me) on this Air New Zealand Airbus A320R aircraft. Although I was unable to choose this seat, as I am on a codeshare flight with Virgin Australia, I am happy this one so close to the front want assigned to me.

The seats are fully decked out with AV screens, device charges, and plenty of legroom (at least at the front). There is no charge for the movies and entertainment on ‘The Works’ ticket I have – I notice the seat next to me charges $10 to ‘upgrade to movies’. My ticket also includes a full meal. I finally get to watch Stephen King’s ‘It’. Glad it’s a small screen. That clown is freaky…

I choose the lamb with cumin, warm roll, and vanilla bean ice cream. I also enjoy a glass of NZ Pinot Noir. It’s OK – rice is a bit dry and there is no salad. Luckily I’m not really hungry. The ice cream is good though.

We land on time.

Rating: 8/10