Breaking News - Route Postponed until 2022 (see recent post Feb 2022)
Air New Zealand postponed its ambitious Auckland to New York direct flights by a year. This comes as the fallout from the aviation crisis continues to affect the airline. The carrier has also decided to delay the introduction of its Boeing 787-10 fleet and new business class cabin. Finally, it will exit its Auckland to London via Los Angeles route earlier than scheduled.
Air New Zealand United States Services: New York Non-Stop to Auckland
ORIGINAL PRESS RELEASE: Air New Zealand will launch non-stop New York to Auckland flights from Newark Airport in October 2020. The new service will use Air New Zealand's premium-focused configuration Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, and will operate three times weekly, year-round. Tickets for Air New Zealand's New York service will go on sale soon, subject to regulatory approvals and landing slot confirmation.
At the same time, the daily Los Angeles to London service will be withdrawn in October 2020. "While Air New Zealand has a proud history of flying direct between Los Angeles and London for 37 years, dynamics on the route have changed in recent years and like other airlines, Air New Zealand is strongest when operating direct flights to and from their home hub."
With the start of the new service, the airline has also made the difficult decision to withdraw from its daily Los Angeles-London service from October 2020.
More information here.