KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand will start direct flights to Beijing just in time for next year's Olympic Games.
The new non-stop service, which is subject to approval from Chinese authorities, will operate twice a week using Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.
Flights will operate out of Auckland on Wednesday and Friday
and out of Beijing on Thursday and Saturday from July 18, three weeks before the Olympics begin.
The service builds on Air New Zealand's direct links to Shanghai which started late last year, reflecting sharp growth in the Chinese market.
Earlier this month Cathay Pacific boosted its Hong Kong weekday services to twice a day over summer.
China is New Zealand's fifth largest market for tourists and the fastest-growing. In the year to October 119,602 Chinese visited New Zealand, up 16.7 per cent on the previous year.
To provide sufficient capacity for the Beijing flights, Air New Zealand will cut its Auckland-Shanghai service to three times a week until November 2008. From November next year the airline plans to operate five services a week to Shanghai, plus the two Beijing flights.
Air New Zealand group general manager Ed Sims says the Beijing service would offer New Zealand leisure travellers the opportunity to land closer to China's main tourist attractions including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Shanghai was seen as more of a business travellers' route.
Sims said planes out of Shanghai had been about 80 per cent full since the service started.
He expected New Zealanders to fill up to 30 per cent of flights to Beijing's Capital International Airport, which handles around 1300 flights a day.
"We believe this is the right mix to enable us to realise our growth ambitions in China, opening up Destination New Zealand to a massive new group of travellers,"said Sims.
Fares for the new direct service will be on sale from today, with lead-in economy fares starting from $1959 return, exclusive of taxes.
The non-stop flight is approximately 14 hours from Auckland to Beijing and 13 hours 15 minutes return to Auckland with the difference being due to winds.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said China is developing rapidly and there are a growing number of wealthy Chinese individuals keen to travel more.
Direct flights helped Tourism New Zealand promote New Zealand as a single holiday destination, rather than being an add-on to Australia.
Tourism New Zealand is spending almost $4 million promoting New Zealand in China this year.