Subject to regulatory approvals, the new service will operate for a three month period between December 1, 2017 and February 28, 2018 and will complement Cathay Pacific’s current seasonal double daily flights to Auckland as well as strategic partner Air New Zealand’s daily service between Hong Kong and Auckland.
Tianjin currently has limited connectivity outside of Asia from Binhai International Airport, but is increasingly being seen as an alternative access point into China’s capital city, Beijing, which is just 120km away and a journey of just 35 minutes by high-speed train.
There has been a steady increase year-on-year in the number of Hong Kong and China travellers visiting New Zealand. According to official figures from Statistics New Zealand, as of March 2016, the total number of visitors from Hong Kong and China were up 19.1 percent and 27.8 percent, respectively.
The new year-round service will operate three times a week using Boeing 767-300 equipment with a flight time of around 10 and a half hours in each direction, subject to government and regulatory approvals. Flights are due to commence from December 2016 and full schedules will be confirmed when reservations are opened around mid-year.
Emirates cannot hold claim to the world’s longest route – a service from their hub in Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand – for much longer. Fellow Gulf carrier, Qatar Airways have announced their service from Doha to Auckland to begin in December.
Auckland Airport was crowned winner of the second regional heat of the 2016 Routes Marketing Awards at a ceremony last yesterday (Monday, 7 March) in Manila in the Philippines.
New Zealand's Auckland Airport was announced as the overall winner of the Routes Asia edition of the Routes 2016 Marketing Awards which were formally announced last night during the Networking Evening event which took place at The Blue Leaf Filipinas in Manila, Philippines.
Emirates already operates three daily A380 flights into Auckland but up until March 1, 2016 these all operated on a direct, one-stop basis via Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. In late January this year it revealed plans to introduce this fourth rotation, the first to operate non-stop between Dubai and Auckland, providing more efficient connectivity between New Zealand and markets across the Middle East, Africa and in to Europe.
The value of air service as an economic generator is particular obvious in island locations. Routesonline spoke to Matthew Findlay ahead of his recent move to Australia about his experiences in New Zealand, where geography means most international connections involve a long-haul flight.
Dubbed the ‘Capital Express’ route, Singapore Airlines will introduce a four times weekly schedule on Singapore – Canberra – Wellington, subject to final regulatory approval and will be operated with a 266-seat retrofitted Boeing 777-200 fitted with 38 Business Class and 228 Economy seats.
Have you wondered what enticed an airline to a certain destination? What the data says about demand on the city pair and connecting markets? What external factors may have influenced the airline in selecting a specific city pair? How this business case differs from others? Our new ‘Route Case’ offering will seek to provide the answers all within a single 20 minute meeting slot at our events.
AirAsia X is planning to add Auckland, the largest and most populous urban area in New Zealand, as a tag on its existing daily Kuala Lumpur – Gold Coast service and is expected to open reservations this week. It previously served Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand but closed the route after just 15 months of operation.
The flight will be operated as part of American's joint business with Qantas, which remains subject to regulatory approvals. Through their enhanced relationship, American and Qantas intend to provide increased connectivity to markets beyond their key gateways.
China Southern announced in August that it would commence a three times weekly link between Guangzhou and Christchurch from December 15, 2015 operated using a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. This was originally displaying just for the winter schedule, but last month reservations were opened for the route to continue through the summer 2016 schedule.
