It may only be one month since the carrier touched down in America’s south, but Air New Zealand is feeling so confident about its new route that it’s already willing to boost it.
The airline is apparently looking to extend its initial five times weekly Auckland-Houston flights to fly five times per week on a permanent basis, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The extension is expected to take place in March to meet expected demand from wealthier travellers flying between the south and New Zealand.
As a result, the airline is reportedly looking to reduce flights on other routes, including the Auckland-Los Angeles plus Auckland-San Francisco route.
The change comes as American Airlines and Qantas increase competition to the two popular destinations, with new American Airlines services between Sydney and LA as well as Auckland and LA and Qantas’ resumed operations to San Francisco.
Despite reducing services, Air New Zealand will still be able to carry a large number of passengers to the two destinations through its codeshare arrangement with United Airlines.
A USB Analyst, Marcus Curley, told SMH that airfares to Houston are already bringing in similar passengers levels as those to Los Angeles, despite only flying to the south for a few weeks.
“Air NZ’s airfares on Houston [are] already at similar levels to Los Angeles despite being operational only for a few weeks.”
Marcus Curley, Air New Zealand Analyst
Meanwhile, there’s rumours that Air New Zealand could be looking to build on the popularity of its safety videos, by recruiting pop sensation, Taylor Swift.
The airline took to Facebook earlier this month, asking its followers to re-write T-Swift’s song ‘Out of the Woods’ with a safety theme. Read on