Air New Zealand is looking to launch three times weekly nonstop service from Auckland to New York (Newark) next year as the airline reported fast growth in the segment.
To pursue this plan, the New Zealand flag carrier also announced it is suspending its daily Los Angeles-London service, on the same day.
"Visitor growth to New Zealand is strongest from North America and the performance of our new service to Chicago is exceeding expectations. New York has been an aspiration for Air New Zealand for some time and withdrawal from the Atlantic will free up aircraft capacity to make this milestone a reality," Air New Zealand acting chief executive officer Jeff McDowall said.
Air New Zealand will fly between Auckland and its alliance partner United Airlines' New York hub Newark Liberty International Airport three times weekly, year-round, using its latest configuration Boeing 787-9 aircraft.
LA-London decision
Explaining the halt of its LA-London flight, he said that demand is usually high for flights directly coming from New Zealand.
There are also currently more than twice the number of ways to fly to London from New Zealand than there were a decade ago, the airline boss said, noting that last year, less than 7% of all airline travellers between Auckland and London chose to fly via Los Angeles.
"Air New Zealand is strongest when operating direct flights to and from our home base and this reset will put us in the best possible position to take advantage of increasing demand across the Pacific Rim," McDowall said.
"At the same time, the Atlantic has become one of the most hotly contested routes in the world and Air New Zealand lacks the home market advantages and scale of the North American and European airlines we're up against," he added.
Air New Zealand said its Los Angeles-London service will operate as scheduled until October 2020 and that no tickets have been sold beyond this date.
Tickets for its New York service, meanwhile, will go on sale soon, subject to regulatory approvals and landing slot confirmation.
