On the day Air New Zealand announced news that air travel is bouncing back at the airline - with future investment secured and the soon-to-be launch of its maiden non-stop Auckland to New York service, Qantas crashed the party with its own announcement – it too will be returning to New York – via the North Island city of Auckland!
Air New Zealand’s flagship ultra-long-haul service to New York has been known for a while, with the non-stop service scheduled to operate on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from September 17th. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner’s northbound flight time is estimated to be approximately 16 hours. While flights from JFK will take around 17 hours and 35 minutes to touchdown in Auckland, making it among the world’s longest flights. Connecting flights with Sydney will take a further 3 hours and 40 minutes.
So, when Qantas announced plans to return to New York three days per week from June 2023 after a three-year hiatus – in direct competition with Air New Zealand – this became good news for consumers. More seats should mean better prices as the two national carriers battle to secure the lucrative North American market.
But Qantas didn’t stop there with news that will benefit the customer – flights to Auckland from Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne will increase from 6 to 11 flights per day when the service to New York launches, with an additional three Dreamliners expected for delivery next year. The company will also invest in a multi-million-dollar lounge upgrade program seeing expansions and new lounges built in Adelaide, Auckland, Port Hedland and Rockhampton.
And with order confirmation of the ultra-long-range Airbus A350-1000s, Qantas sets its sights on ‘Project Sunrise’ being operational from 2025. The world’s longest direct flights will fly from Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York.
Qantas is a member of oneworld while Air New Zealand is a member of Star Alliance.
Read the First-Class.com First Class Product Launch of Qantas Airbus A350-1000ULR.
Read the First-Class.com review of Qantas Business Class.
Read the First-Class.com review of Air New Zealand Business Class
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