Defence has released a tender to market for proposals to replace the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s two Boeing 757s by the end of 2027.
The cost of maintaining and issues with reliability of the current fleet, alongside the competitiveness of the market for aircraft of this type, has meant the business case process has been fast tracked.
This procurement seeks to replace these aircraft with commercially available, off-the-shelf Boeing 737 Max 8 or Airbus A321 narrow-body aircraft.
The tender process is designed to select a preferred provider for the replacement of the B757 aircraft. The information provided will be used to inform the final business case for Cabinet consideration.
The tender process does not commit the Crown to any expenditure.
This work has been fast tracked ahead of the upcoming Defence Capability Plan. However the final business case development will take into account any decisions made during this process.