Air NZ adds San Francisco to destination list

San Francisco, the American city famous for its cable cars and Golden Gate Bridge, has been added to Air New Zealand's list of international destinations.

The airline announced today it will begin a 12-hour, non-stop, Boeing 747 flight to San Francisco from Auckland from June 30.

Air New Zealand said the service would begin with three flight a week, code sharing with Star Alliance partner United Airlines, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

The flights leave both Auckland and San Francisco in the evening, arriving around midday in San Francisco and early morning into Auckland respectively.

Air New Zealand launched the service with a $999 economy return fare for a week from today until February 3, for travel between June 30 and November 27. The airline said the business class fare was $3999 return and the first class fare was $6999.

"The introduction of a second direct destination on the US west coast provides an important option for travellers to the region and beyond," Air New Zealand managing director and CEO Ralph Norris said.

"Air New Zealand has recognised the importance of the US west coast since we first began flying DC8 aircraft into Los Angeles in 1965. Over the years our presence in California has grown substantially and we now carry more than 490,000 passengers to LA from New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and the United Kingdom each year.

"We are one of the largest non-North American carriers into LA and employ 175 people there. Air New Zealand recognised that future growth was available to the region but to do so we required a new destination. With that in mind San Francisco was an obvious option," Mr Norris said.

He said the city had an extensive and well-developed tourism industry, a new airport and an impressive public transport system.

San Francisco was the first new international destination for Air New Zealand since 1995 when it began flights into Fukuoka, Japan.

- NZPA