AUCKLAND — When Air New Zealand’s inaugural flight from Auckland to Newark took off on Oct. 29, it became the first-ever nonstop service between New Zealand and New York.
The service, which strengthens the alliance between Air New Zealand and United Airlines, comes on the heels of the former’s successful launch of nonstop flights to United’s hub in Chicago in November 2018.
Auckland-Newark flies 3x/weekly year-round under its flagship flight numbers NZ1 southbound and NZ2 northbound. Flights are operated by Air New Zealand’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Both flights depart Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
From its East Coast gateway at Newark Liberty International Airport, United Airlines operates more than 400 daily flights across the United States. The new service between Auckland and Newark will also provide passengers with convenient onward connections to more than 90 destinations across the U.S.
“Our non-stop flight will cut travel time by around three hours, putting New Zealand in easy reach of New York and the US Eastern Seaboard,” says Air New Zealand Acting Chief Executive Officer Jeff McDowall. “It’s terrific we can make a seamless journey a reality for Kiwis wanting to experience New York and Americans keen to explore New Zealand and we’ll work with United to grow the route and visitor numbers in both directions.”
John Gebo, United’s senior vice president of Alliances, added: “United’s strong, strategic alliance and partnership with Air New Zealand provides our customers with more options to travel between the United States and New Zealand than any other airline in the world and we are proud to partner on this first ever non-stop service connecting New Zealand with our hub at Newark Liberty International Airport. We are excited to offer our shared customers another option when planning travel to beautiful New Zealand while conveniently connecting visitors to more than 90 destinations across the United States with just one-stop connections at our New York hub.”
Air New Zealand’s new flights to New York are now on sale. Flight time is expected to be 15 hours 40 minutes northbound and 17 hours 40 minutes southbound.
