Tasmanians, get ready for the return of international flights! Air New Zealand has announced it will be resuming non-stop services between Hobart and Auckland in October 2024 after pausing flights during the New Zealand winter.
The new seasonal service will operate three times per week until March 2025.
Meanwhile, the carrier announced it will also be resuming its Auckland-Seoul (South Korea) flights with a three-times-weekly service between October 2024 to March 2025.
Elsewhere in Asia, New Zealand’s national airline will boost capacity on flights from Auckland to Tokyo, Singapore and Taipei between November 2024 and March 2025.
With Air New Zealand upgauging its aircraft on these routes to its new and larger B777-300, the increase will include more premium seating for extra comfort.
Compared to the year before, the carrier will add 30,000 seats to Tokyo flights (most of which will be Business Premier and Premium Economy seats), 20,000 seats to Singapore services (including 11,000 Business Premier and Premium Economy seats) and 5,000 Business Premier and Premium Economy seats to Taipei.
Chicago delayed
But it’s not all good news for Air NZ, with the Kiwi carrier also announcing the extension of its pause on Chicago flights due to aircraft availability due to “ongoing engine challenges”.
While Auckland-Chicago flights were due to recommence in October 2024, the service has been pushed back until around the second half of 2025.
Air New Zealand General Manager Long Haul Scott Carr said the extended pause will allow the airline to fly to important destinations again and ensure that customers’ travel plans on other routes are not affected.
“Unfortunately, ongoing challenges with the availability of Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines on our 787-9 aircraft means we haven’t been able to return to our Chicago route in October as expected,” he explained.
“We anticipate returning to Chicago when we receive our new 787 aircraft from Boeing, currently expected in the second half of 2025.
“Over the next few days, our teams will be in touch directly with customers who have bookings on our Chicago route from October to share their options, so they do not need to contact us proactively. Those who booked via a travel agent should contact their agent to confirm changes to their itinerary.”
Carr added that there would still be plenty of options for travellers to fly to the Illinois city via another US port.
“Our premium cabins are incredibly popular with customers travelling to and from destinations like Singapore, Tokyo, and Taipei, so we’re excited to introduce increased capacity from November to give those customers more seats to book travel,” he remarked.
“We’re committed to connecting New Zealand with the world and these schedule changes mean we can continue to do that.”
Last week, Air NZ announced the relaunch of its Cairns-Auckland service in a further boost to travel between Australia and New Zealand.
Earlier this month, the carrier unveiled its latest ‘A Taste of Aotearoa’ inflight menu for long-haul passengers departing NZ in Business Premier and Premium Economy.
