Major expansion of American Airlines to NZ
- October 29, 2019
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American Airlines has unveiled a major expansion of direct air services between the USA and New Zealand. A trip to Hollywood and Venice Beach will become even shorter for Kiwis when American Airlines launches their first ever nonstop service from Christchurch, New Zealand (CHC), to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) next October. The airline is also adding the only direct service between Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), American’s home hub, which will launch at the same time.
These new routes are a direct result of the recently approved joint business with Qantas, which delivers new customer benefits like enhanced codeshare opportunities and increased frequent flyer benefits for American and Qantas customers.
American will fly to CHC three times per week from October 2020 through March 2021 with a Boeing 787-8. The 787-8 features 20 Flagship Business seats and 28 Premium Economy seats, providing additional comfort on the 13 hour flight. The aircraft offers a variety of entertainment options for customers, with access to power at every seat, live TV, and hundreds of movies, music, games and TV shows.
CHC to LAX creates unique one-stop connections to the United States not previously available by any other carrier. American has made a significant investment of NZ$2.5 billion (US$1.6 billion) in terminals 4 and 5 of its LAX hub and as the largest carrier at LAX, can connect New Zealanders to more than 70 destinations domestically and globally, with more than 200 flights operating out of LAX every day. “The commercial success of our AKL-LAX route due to American’s love of New Zealand means it has been one of our best performing routes world-wide,” says Shane Hodges, American’s Managing Director of Asia Pacific Sales.
American currently operates seasonal service from AKL to LAX and is next year adding another nonstop service to American’s biggest hub, DFW, from which it launches more than 900 flights a day. Flights will be operated with American’s state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9, with 30 Flagship Business seats and 21 Premium Economy seats. New flights from AKL to DFW will enable new one-stop connections to New Zealanders to more than 70 cities across the United States. And as American enhances its commitment to the region, seasonal AKL to LAX service will resume earlier next year — on October 7 — adding three weeks of service to the increasingly popular destination.
