Getting to New Zealand is getting much easier for U.S. travelers. Amid a recent flurry of flight launches from Air New Zealand, another new, nonstop flight to the Pacific Rim nation has been announced.
American Airlines unveiled plans this morning for a new flight from Los Angeles to Christchurch, New Zealand. The route will start in October 2020 and will be the only nonstop flight between the U.S. and New Zealand's South Island.
American will operate the flights to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island, three times a week from October through March. The roughly 13-hour flight will be on board the carrier's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, which are outfitted with 20 lie-flat business class seats and 28 premium economy seats with extra legroom—important for this long-haul flight. (The remaining 186 seats are in standard economy class).
“The South Island sums up everything that our customers are looking for in New Zealand—adventure, culture and wildlife found no where else,” Vasu Raja, American’s senior vice president of network strategy, said in a statement. Also in October 2020, the airline will also be launching a new nonstop route to Auckland from Dallas, a major hub that will open up one-stop flights to the New Zealand capital city for more than 70 cities. “Now, we’re able to get customers from places like Louisville, Savannah, or Monterrey, Mexico, all the way to New Zealand with just one stop,” Raja said.
American's announcement comes just days after Air New Zealand also announced a new nonstop flight from New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport to Auckland. Operated by Air New Zealand, it will be the first-ever nonstop flight to New Zealand from the East Coast of the U.S. when it also launches in October 2020. The approximately 8,000-mile journey will clock in at 17 hours and 40 minutes on the departing route from Newark, and about 15 hours and 40 minutes on the leg from Auckland to the New York area.
Cutting out a stop along the way will shave about three hours off the total travel time, Jeff McDowall New Zealand's acting CEO, said in a statement announcing the launch. The new flight will make three round-trips a week and will operate year-round on board the airline's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which are outfitted with four different cabin classes: Business Premiere, Premium Economy, Economy, and Economy SkyCouch. The only lie-flat seats are in the Business Premiere class, but Air New Zealand also offers its "Skycouch" product for economy fliers, a kind of do-it-yourself lie-flat seat. Essentially, it's purchasing a row of economy seats that are sold in blocks for fliers to stretch out on, and you'll also get a pillow and bedding. Not a bad idea for such a lengthy flight. Our readers ranked Air New Zealand one of the best airlines in the world, in part because of the comfort of its cabins.
Last year, Air New Zealand also launched a nonstop 16-hour flight from Chicago to Auckland. McDowall says the new routes are all part of a push to meet increasing travel demand from the U.S. to the Pacific Rim. "Visitor growth to New Zealand is strongest from North America and performance of our new service to Chicago is exceeding expectations," he said in the statement. "New York has been an aspiration for Air New Zealand for some time." From July 2018 to July 2019, visitors from the U.S. to New Zealand increased 8.8 percent, according to the New Zealand Herald.
The historic nonstop route to New Zealand is the latest among a recent spate of so-called ultra-long-haul routes. The flight's announcement comes on the heels of Qantas Airways' test flight for a nearly 20-hour route last week. While that flight hasn't been officially launched by Qantas, if it went forward it would be the longest flight in the world, replacing Singapore Airlines' 18-hour flight (also out of Newark) to Singapore Changi Airport as the world's longest nonstop route.
For now, fares for Air New Zealand's Newark to Auckland route are not on sale—the flight still has some regulatory and airport approvals to formalize before tickets can be sold. But we've seen nonstop fares from the West Coast to Auckland for as low as $738 from Air New Zealand, so it might be worth pouncing on these fares when they do launch.