Air New Zealand increases capacity on popular Vancouver-Auckland route

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 4, 2016 /CNW/ -- Building off the recent success of its additional seasonal daily service from Vancouver-Auckland, Air New Zealand is adding a further return service on its Vancouver-Auckland route between October 15 and December 3 2016, increasing its frequency from three to four return services per week.

With the fourth flight departing Vancouver on Saturdays, the airline will add nearly 5,000 seats to the route, representing a 33 percent boost in capacity compared to the previous year.

The latest increase is part of the airline's overall capacity increase on the route and marks the second capacity lift in the last six months. This will be the first time Air New Zealand has operated four return services during this time period.

Air New Zealand Vice President of the Americas Nick Judd commented, "We are very pleased with the continued growth out of our Vancouver gateway. With the additional return service we are able to offer our Canadian customers greater flexibility and connectivity to New Zealand and Australia."

Air New Zealand exclusively operates the Boeing 777-200ER on the Vancouver-Auckland route. The aircraft features the airline's award-winning Economy Skycouch™, comfortable ink-colored luxury leather seats with leg rests in Premium Economy, and lie-flat beds in Business Premier.

Offering a convenient overnight service to New Zealand, departing from Vancouver early evening and arriving into Auckland early in the morning, Air New Zealand allows for same day connections to 21 domestic New Zealand and eight Australian gateways.

To satisfy New Zealand summer travellers, during the Northern Winter peak period from December 9, 2016 to January 30, 2017, the airline will again move to daily return services as operated over the same period last year. Customers can now book service to Auckland at www.airnewzealand.ca.

About Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand has been connecting travelers for 75 years, and operates, on average, 500 flights a day within a network of 51 cities in 17 countries including 22 destinations within New Zealand. North American services include non-stop flights to New Zealand from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Honolulu and Vancouver B.C., and Los Angeles non-stop to the Cook Islands and London.

Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Avianca in Brazil, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI and United. Overall, the Star Alliance network currently offers more than 18,500 daily flights to 1,330 airports in 192 countries.

For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com and/or follow Star Alliance on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn or Instagram

SOURCE Air New Zealand

Cherie Whyte, Air New Zealand, [phone]; Charli Sharp, MWWPR, [phone], http://www.airnewzealand.ca