In response to increased demand,Canadians will soon fly non-stop to New Zealand all year-round.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (June 11, 2007) - Air New Zealand today announced that its new non-stop service between Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand will now operate year-round, offering additional flights to those newly scheduled for the peak travel season. The increase comes in response to the strong demand from customers eager to fly directly to New Zealand.
Early this year, Air New Zealand announced that its new non-stop route between Vancouver and Auckland would be available from November 2007 through March 2008, to coincide with the busiest travel season between the two countries. Since the announcement, forward bookings have been very strong, prompting the airline to extend the offer, making the service available year-round.
"New Zealand has always been a popular destination choice for Canadians," said Roger Poulton, Air New Zealand Vice President - the Americas. "Since our announcement of the new route in February, we've been inundated with inquiries about traveling outside of the seasonal schedule. With such great demand, it seemed logical to give customers what they wanted."
With the launch of the year-round non-stop service, Air New Zealand will provide three non-stop flights each week between Vancouver and Auckland during the months of November through March and July through August. The service will be available twice-weekly for the remaining months of the year; offering Canadians access to a variety of experiences throughout the seasons.
"We anticipate our Canadian customers will appreciate that the service is a fast and convenient route to many Australian destinations too," said Poulton.
The new route reduces travel time to a little over 14 hours, whereas previous itineraries from Vancouver to New Zealand totalled an average of 20 hours. Customers will enjoy a direct flight aboard Air New Zealand's new fleet of Boeing 777-200ERs, featuring lie-flat beds, vast entertainment options and award-winning food and wine. Star Alliance partner Air Canada will also be code sharing on this service.
About Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand offers more direct flights to the South Pacific than any other airline, including non-stop flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles and (starting November 02) Vancouver to New Zealand, as well as Los Angeles non-stop to Fiji, the Cook Islands and Samoa. Other popular destinations include Australia, China, Japan and Tonga. In addition to flying non-stop LA-London, Air New Zealand's newest route, between London and Hong Kong, now allows customers to fly round-the-world on one airline. Consistently rated among the world's best international airlines, Air New Zealand's most recent accolades include recognition by the Condé Nast Traveler Reader's Choice Awards, the Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards and Business Traveler Magazine. United Mileage Plus, US Airways Dividend Miles and Air Canada's Aeroplan members earn and redeem mileage on select flights. Both flight and vacation essentials can now be booked on AirNewZealand.com, where the lowest online airfares are guaranteed. Flight and vacation bookings can also be made by calling 1-800-262-1234 in the USA and 1-800-663-5494 in Canada.
Contact:
Allison Schwartz/Angelina Duran
Cohn & Wolfe
(310) 967-2978 / (310) 967-2907
allison_schwartz@cohnwolfe.com
angelina_duran@cohnwolfe.com
Karen Laugesen
Air New Zealand
(310) 648-7039
karen.laugesen@airnz.com
NOTE: The content of all Air New Zealand media releases are accurate at the time of issue, as stated at the top of each release. For updates on any changes, please contact Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, Brussels Airlines and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,500 daily flights to 1,071 airports in 171 countries.
For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com.
