For the 2022/2023 austral summer season, Auckland Airport (AKL) will have eight North American destinations, expanding its offering from pre-pandemic levels. AKL is also expecting the return of airlines such as American Airlines and Air Canada.
On Sunday October 2 United Airlines returned after two and a half years to New Zealand: flight UA 917 was operated on a Boeing 777-200ER registered as N78013, which took off from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) at 00:10 local time and landed at Auckland Airport (AKL) at 08:36. The return of this non-stop service will provide travelers with more than 42 domestic connections in the United States.
The Chicago-based airline will be flying three times a week to New Zealand and from October 30 will increase its services to daily flights, offering 3,864 seats per week.
On September 17, Air New Zealand connected Auckland (AKL) to the Big Apple for the first time with an unprecedented non-stop service to New York (JFK) with three weekly flights operated by Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, and Qantas is expected to join by June 16, 2023. In addition, by the end of October, the New Zealand company will resume operations to Chicago O’Hare (ORD).
American Airlines is expected to return soon with a route from its hub in Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) from October 30 further strengthening New Zealand’s connectivity with the United States; and from November 10, Air Canada will return with a non-stop service from Vancouver (YVR), the Canadian company’s main transpacific hub.
According to data compiled by Aviacionline through Cirium, for this austral summer between New Zealand and North America there will be an offer of 33,586 seats per month in 114 operations.
«We have also restarted Air New Zealand’s Chicago nonstop connection, so all of these excellent services that will be available in October will add almost 14,000 seats, or about 20% of seat capacity, month on month between New Zealand and North America. This will bring the overall capacity to around 82,000 seats,» said Scott Tasker, Auckland Airport (AKL) General Customer Manager.
Around 13,000 travelers targeted the United States as a destination to fly to during the October school vacations, making it New Zealand’s second largest international market after Australia. A total of 600,000 passengers are expected to fly from Auckland Airport during the school vacations.
Starting in November, Auckland (AKL) will have five airlines operating from the United States and Canada (Air New Zealand, Air Canada, American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and United) operating to eight destinations: Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Houston – Intercontinental (IAH), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), New York (JFK), Honolulu (HNL), Chicago O’ Hare (ORD) and Vancouver (YVR).
Auckland (AKL) will be the most connected Australasian airport to North America this summer. New Zealand continues to relax COVID-19 protocols, facemasks will no longer be required in airport terminals, international travelers will no longer need proof of vaccination and arrival screening will no longer be required.
See also: Qantas announces flights between Auckland and New York
