Delta Airlines touches down at Auckland International Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker
Delta Airlines touches down at Auckland International Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker
Auckland Airport says capacity between this country and North America this summer will be up 26 per cent on pre-pandemic flights.
The airport - already under strain at peak times - today welcomed two new flights from Los Angeles as US carriers cater for strong demand among American tourists tovisit Aotearoa New Zealand this summer.
Delta Air Lines arrived in New Zealand for the first time in its near-100-year history, with a nearly full Airbus A350-900 landing just after 8am. The airline will fly daily during summer and scale back to three times a week from April over winter.
United Airlines’ first Los Angeles Airport (LAX) to Auckland (AKL) summer seasonal flight arrived 90 minutes earlier. An hour earlier an Air NZ Boeing 777 arrived from LA on the route the airline flies up to 12 times a week.
Next month American Airlines will also begin operating a seasonal service on the Los Angeles route with daily flights.
“It’s great to see some existing airline partners, like United, boost options for travellers, but having Delta touch down here for the very first time is just fantastic,” said Auckland Airport’s chief customer officer, Scott Tasker.
“Not only is this greater competition and choice for travellers, but many of these connections are also providing really important air cargo capacity for New Zealand’s high-value exports.”
Delta Air Lines’ managing director of international and speciality sales, Rob LeBel, said New Zealand was “number one on the wish list” for a large number of Americans.
Today’s flight was 91 per cent full and bookings were strong.
“Coming out of the pandemic there’s an appetite for services not just goods and at the top of that list is travel. Consumers want to go to far away destinations and places they haven’t been and that makes Auckland - with the strong demand but what we’re seeing in the future - the right time for Delta.”
Asked how crowded the LAX-AKL route was, he said in spite of the increased competition he was confident it could be a profitable market for Delta.
He said he couldn’t comment on prices. (They have fallen with some promotional fares dropping below $1400.)
“We’re very confident in our brand and what we can offer to consumers.”
Passengers included Kiwis coming home and Americans who were wowed by the Māori welcome. Two passengers wore masks as well as astronaut-style, fully sealed helmets on the flight and through the airport.
Fully sealed passengers from Delta Air Lines' first fight to NZ. Photo / Grant Bradley
Captain Sean Onitsuka has flown planes for 54 years. The flight into Auckland was the last of his career at Delta which has spanned 37 years.
The aircraft landed as the remnants of ex-cyclone Lola hit the city and he said the weather was challenging with winds at 600 metres blowing at close to 90km/h.
‘‘It worked out - it’s not something that we couldn’t work through. We have good training,” said Onitsuka.
‘‘We’re very happy to be in New Zealand and it’s wonderful that this is my last flight.”
United’s big moves
United has added three new weekly flights between Auckland and Los Angeles with another flight being added in December. It will also start flying from San Francisco to Christchurch.
By the end of 2023, United will have more flights between the US and New Zealand and the US and Australia than any other carrier in the world, as well as more than all other carriers in the US combined.
Beyond the new route between Los Angeles and Auckland, the carrier will soon add more flights between Los Angeles and Brisbane.
In December, United will also inaugurate the first nonstop flight from Christchurch to the US with three weekly flights to San Francisco.
“At United, we’re very proud to add three new weekly flights between Auckland and Los Angeles. It’s been a strong year of growth for the airline in the South Pacific and we look forward to connecting more people with their favourite destinations,” said Tim Wallis, regional manager - Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti.
Qantas has stepped up the frequency of its Auckland-New York service to four times a week and Air NZ will do the same between December and mid-January.
