Direct flights between New Zealand and India move a step closer

Rules covering flights between India and New Zealand have been liberalised allowing more services between the two countries and adding momentum to the push for non-stop flights.

While direct flights have been possible before, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost co-operation in civil aviation includes scheduling of new routes, codeshare services, traffic rights and more capacity entitlement.

According to the MoU, the designated airline(s) of New Zealand may operate any number of services with any type of aircraft, with traffic rights to and from six points in India - New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Codeshare flights – notably Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines flights - have been extended to New Delhi, an important government and business centre with a population of 32 million people.

The number of ports carriers from India can fly to has been extended to Wellington and Christchurch, as well as Auckland.

Damien O’Connor, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, is in India on a trade mission and said the agreement had “helped progress the prospect of a direct flight between New Zealand and India” that will help tourism, business and education.

The minister met with Air India.

Air India is interested in direct flights but right now is rebuilding its fleet and is short of aircraft suitable for direct flights. In 2020, Air India made repatriation flights to New Zealand for Kiwis stuck overseas and for Indians stranded here by closed borders.

It made six non-stop flights using a Boeing 777-200LR between Auckland and Delhi and Mumbai, flights of around 16 hours and distances of between 12,300km to 12,500km.

In 2019, when 65,000 Indians visited New Zealand, a tourism delegation came here to work on the development of closer links. Research for Tourism NZ shows there is a “sizable opportunity” for the country to increase arrivals with 10.6 million “active considers” in three major cities. A third of that group was waiting for good package deals on flights and accommodation.

Air India is expanding rapidly under the leadership of New Zealand-born Campbell Wilson. Wilson told the Herald earlier this year that flights were on the radar, but other destinations with bigger resident Indian populations on much busier routes would come first when the new planes start arriving later this year.

Air India has signed up for 470 planes, evenly split between Boeing and Airbus. The order is estimated to be worth more than $110 billion at list prices.

Air New Zealand has investigated regular non-stop flights to India before but the commercial case hasn’t yet stacked up and the airline is concentrating on its Pacific Rim international strategy.

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.