Air New Zealand prepares to head to New York

Air New Zealand is finally going to kick off its New York service, with services due to commence from Auckland from the 17th of September.

Taxi for one…aircraft – Image, Air New Zealand via Twitter.

The airline will operate its flagship Auckland-New York route three times a week, year-round with its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The new service further deepens the alliance between Air New Zealand and United Airlines, with the airline serving New York JFK.

Planned operations are as follows (per Air New Zealand):

Inaugural outbound flight schedule – 17 September only:

Flight schedule effective 19 September:

Flights will arrive in and depart from Terminal 1 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Air New Zealand’s Boeing 787-9 are configured in a three-class configuration, with 18 Business Class seats, 21 Premium Economy Seats and 263 Economy Seats. The Skycouch seats are available as well on the Boeing 787-9.

The new service will also provide greater choice for travellers between New Zealand and North America, with Air New Zealand serving six destinations currently in North America – Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angles, San Francisco and Vancouver. New York will be its seventh gateway.

In Quotes

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran on the launch said:

“New York is an iconic yet familiar city, a bucket list item. And now for the first time, Kiwis can visit the city of all cities with a non-stop flight. New Zealand lets you slow down – in New York, everything is bigger and faster, it’s exciting and awe inspiring – and it’s now closer than ever.”

“The US has always been a key market for us, and this new route cements our commitment to developing growing tourism opportunities between the two countries. In the six years leading up to Covid, the US visitor numbers to New Zealand doubled and looking at the average spend in New Zealand by US tourists, we estimate that this new route would contribute an additional $65M per year into the local economy.

“Traditionally, flight numbers 1 and 2 are used for an airline’s flagship route. And that’s what New York will be – our flagship route.”

“We’ve worked incredibly hard over the last few years to make this ultra-long-haul service a reality – it’s one of the longest routes in the world, at just over 16 hours northbound and 17 and a half hours southbound. To ensure customers arrive in New York feeling refreshed, we’ve put a lot of thought into the onboard experience and teams are working around the clock to make sure this a great flying experience.”

Onward connectivity

For those looking to go beyond New York, there are plenty of opportunities with United Airlines and its Star Alliance friends – for example, US and Canadian destinations with Air Canada and United, and International destinations towards Europe and South America.

The return of Ultra-Long Haul

The Ultra-long Haul operates were one of the first to suffer when things went south two years ago as demand dropped off a cliff. However, with the desire for travel return, demand for these routes will grow.

The only fly in the ointment will be the fuel question – another factor will be the cost of fuel at the moment which may impact ticket costs in the short-to-medium term – because keeping an aircraft in the air up for 16 hours will need a lot of fuel.

Even if it’s a very efficient aircraft.

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