Air New Zealand ditches London for New York

• October 23, 2019
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Air New Zealand has revealed that it will withdraw it’s daily Los Angeles – London service from October 2020. Instead, it will commence direct service to Newark Liberty International Airport, New York, three times weekly, year round. The airline will use the Boeing 787-9 aircraft to service the route.

Air New Zealand launched the London route via Los Angeles in 1982 but in recent times have found it difficult to compete against North American and European carriers and to make it profitable. The other contributing factor being less than seven percent of passengers opting to fly via Los Angeles to London.

Withdrawal of its London service will result in 130 job losses including the London cabin crew base, sales and ground crew. The airline is consulting with the affected staff to achieve the best case scenario.

Qantas recently operated a marathon direct test flight from New York to Sydney that was airborne for 19 Hours and 16 Minutes. The main objective was to run series of experiments to assess health and wellbeing on-board.

Air New Zealand’s flight time to New York will clock 15 Hours 40 Minutes northbound and 17 Hours 40 Minutes southbound (depending on winds).

• From October 2020, Air New Zealand customers will be able to travel year-round between Auckland and London with partner airlines via 12 gateways in Asia and the Americas, including New York
• Air New Zealand will operate its 787-9 ‘Code 2’ aircraft to New York. This aircraft has a 275-seat configuration with a higher proportion of Business Premier and Premium Economy seating
• At a flight time of 15hr 40m northbound and 17hr 40m southbound, the 14,178 kilometre route will be Air New Zealand’s longest and the fifth longest in the world by distance
• Operations subject to final regulatory approvals and crewing arrangements.