Air New Zealand is an award winning national flag carrier of New Zealand. The airline has nonstop flights connecting New Zealand to five cities in the U.S .
This guide will help you understand the different U.S routes Air New Zealand offers. We will shine light on Air New Zealand’s U.S operations and what you can expect onboard when flying with the airline.
Who is Air New Zealand exactly?
Air New Zealand is an Auckland based airline providing flights for New Zealand. As the country’s national flag carrier, they offer international flights from New Zealand to 18 different countries.
They are a top notch airline having won several awards. Most recently, they were awarded the “Best Airline in the World” by Condé Nast UK Traveller’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2024.
Where in The United States Does Air New Zealand Have Flights to New Zealand?
Currently, you can find flights to Auckland on Air New Zealand from five cities across the U.S . Most of these cities are large metropolitan areas. They provide enough market demand for passengers wanting to go to New Zealand. They also have enough demand from native New Zealanders who are looking to come to the United States.
See below for the five major United States cities with flights to Auckland on Air New Zealand.
New York
New York is the only East Coast city that has a nonstop flight to Auckland with Air New Zealand. The airline flies from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Auckland Airport. This flight is flown 3 times per week, once daily Auckland bound and New York bound. This means that for a given month, Air New Zealand designates over 7,200 seats on this route.
New York captures the entire East Coast market demand for Air New Zealand. The airline doesn’t fly from other large East Coast international airports like Boston – Logan, Washington – Dulles or Atlanta Hartsfield. This is likely due to lack of demand and airplane availability.
With only 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in its fleet, it is not workable to provide full East Coast access.
If you live on the East Coast outside of New York, you will likely need to find a connection to New York or any other cities in the West served by Air New Zealand.
Another thing to keep in mind about this route is that it is one of the longest flights in the world.
According to Nerdwallet, in 2024, Air New Zealand Flight #1 from New York to Auckland ranked seventh on the list of longest flights in the world. The total flight time is over 17 hours.
While the Dreamliner is designed to make this type of long haul flying more enjoyable, keep in mind that this type of flight might not be for everyone.
If you want learn more about the Dreamliner, we flew on a Boeing 787 on a transatlantic flight in 2023. You can read about that here.
Houston
Just like how the East Coast is only served via one airport by Air New Zealand, the South and Midwest have a little bit of the same situation.
Air New Zealand had to pause its route pairing between Chicago and Auckland due to issues with the Rolls-Royce Trent PW-1000 engines on their Boeing 787 Dreamliners. These engines undergo extensive maintenance procedures that must remove the entire engine of the plane for checks every 1000 landings and takeoffs.
These checks forced the airline to reconsider its fleet use, which meant that the Chicago flight was dropped.This temporarily leaves Houston as Air New Zealand’s gateway city for Midwesterners and Southerners.
With that said, there’s more flight availability in Houston compared to New York – JFK. Air New Zealand flies a daily flight between Houston International Airport and Auckland, in both directions.
The shorter distance between the two cities allows the airline to use their Boeing 777. This means for this route, over 13,000 seats are available for travel between Auckland and Houston every month.
Los Angeles
The flight between Los Angeles and Auckland was Air New Zealand’s first U.S bound route. Los Angeles functions as the USA’s gateway for many Pacific destinations.
Air New Zealand offers lots of service from Los Angeles International Airport to Auckland. Currently, the airline is flying 1 to 2 times per day, everyday weekly in both directions.
While it’s still a long flight, the shorter distance allows Air New Zealand to use their Boeing 777. The airline offers over 19,000 passenger seats per month in this route pairing.
Los Angeles checks all the marks for a great destination for Air New Zealand. Having a large city population, and being a point of interest for U.S bound travelers, there is a lot of market that Air New Zealand can try to scoop up for this route.
Also for travelers that don’t want to stomach a longer flight to New Zealand, Los Angeles is a good place for them to get a connection. Passengers will likely find a connecting flight to the city and spend a few days there before traveling overseas.
San Francisco
The West Coast has an alternative destination city with service to Auckland on Air New Zealand. From San Francisco International Airport, you can find nonstop flights to Auckland 5 to 7 times per week, once daily in both directions.
The airline uses their Boeing 787 on this route. This is likely because San Francisco has less demand than Los Angeles. The Boeing 787 holds less passengers than the Boeing 777 and 787 airframes aren’t as plentiful. But with frequent weekly flights, Air New Zealand does offer over 17,000 seats per month on this route pairing.
San Francisco’s role in Air New Zealand’s U.S route strategy is likely to ease overflow demand from LA. While the city is a tourist attraction for New Zealanders, for Americans it might not be the best option when you have Los Angeles service.
Yet, an argument can be made that San Francisco serves the Pacific Northwest region of the country. Air New Zealand officially serves the Pacific Northwest via Vancouver, Canada.
Pacific Northwest travelers looking to use Vancouver, it’ll likely mean having to find a connection. You will likely need to clear customs twice, once in Canada then again in New Zealand.
Why go through that hassle when you can find a connection down to San Francisco?
Honolulu
For passengers, the most comfortable flight for U.S New Zealand bound travelers is from Honolulu, Hawaii. This flight is only 8 hours instead of 10+ hours on the other nonstop routes from the mainland.
Air New Zealand offers this flight from Honolulu’s Daniel Inouye International Airport. It flies daily, six times per week, both inbound to Hawaii and outbound to Auckland.
Air New Zealand uses their Boeing 787 on this route. With the 787 being flown 6 times per week on this route, only 14,000 monthly seats are available for purchase on this route pair.
The lower seat count makes sense. If you’re flying to Auckland from the mainland, it doesn’t make sense to add a stop in Honolulu when you can fly nonstop from somewhere like Los Angeles.
However, if you’re planning a long vacation with multiple stops, Hawaii is a great place to do that. It breaks your trip up. You also get to spend some time in paradise. It’s a winning situation for anyone.
Alternatives to Air New Zealand’s USA Service
Codeshare Agreements
Air New Zealand has codeshare agreements with partner airlines. That means that routes from the United States to Auckland are flown by any one of Air New Zealand’s partner airlines under a revenue share. Currently, Air New Zealand is part of the Star Alliance Airline Group.
United Airlines
The most significant partner in U.S air travel for Air New Zealand is United Airlines. While United Airlines only offer seasonal nonstop flights to Auckland, it has a large network of domestic routes in the United States. These domestic routes are great for connecting passengers looking to fly on Air New Zealand to Auckland.
With hubs in Newark, Chicago, and Washington D.C, Air New Zealand benefits as these east coast cities can find connecting flights to cities that Air New Zealand has nonstop flights to Auckland.
Main Competitors
Air New Zealand has four competitors that offer flights from the United States to Auckland.
American Airlines
American Airlines offers a seasonal flight to Auckland from Dallas Fort-Worth. They also challenge Air New Zealand directly from Los Angeles, where they offer daily flights from.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines only flies a seasonal route to Auckland. They offer their nonstop flight to New Zealand from Los Angeles.
Hawaiian Airlines
Despite being geographically between the United States and New Zealand, Hawaiian Airlines offers limited service to Auckland. They offer one seasonal route between Honolulu and New Zealand.
Qantas
The Australian airline Qantas challenges Air New Zealand from New York – JFK. They have a daily route from New York to Auckland.
What To Expect Flying With Air New Zealand?
On all international flights, Air New Zealand offers a passenger experience designed to maximize comfort.
Various Cabin Classes
Business Premier Class
Just like most international airlines, Air New Zealand offers a business product called “Business Premier”. In Business Premier, passengers are treated with lie-flat beds, excellent meal service, lounge access, and priority boarding.
Premium Economy Class
A step down from Business Premier is Air New Zealand’s Premium Economy class. In this class, you will receive seats with ample legroom, great cuisine options, as well as other luxury amenities including premium check-in and preferred boarding.
Standard Economy
As for Air New Zealand’s economy product, there are three levels of service. There’s standard economy, Economy Skycouch, and Economy Stretch.
Economy is their standard product. It will be comfortable since you will be flying long distances internationally, however you will lack some of the creature comforts you expect in the higher levels of service like more legroom.
If more comfort is needed, you can opt for either Economy Skycouch or Economy Stretch. Economy Skycouch is a pretty unique feature. Essentially, you’ll be in a seating arrangement that turns your row of seats into a couch. This is great for flying with relatives.
Economy Stretch is more of your standard premium economy product. There are areas on the plane that allow for more legroom like the first rows in sections or fire exit rows.
Air New Zealand’s Inflight Services
Free Wifi
Air New Zealand does have WIFI available on some of its aircraft. Their WIFI allows you to surf the internet, receive and send text messages, and access social media. They recommend checking their app before your flights to ensure that the specific aircraft you’ll be flying on is WIFI capable.
Most likely, since you will be flying long haul between the United States and Auckland, you will be flying on a WIFI capable airplane. But Air New Zealand has made it known that their Boeing 777-300 aircraft are not WIFI capable.
Inflight Entertainment
When flying with Air New Zealand, you will have access to seatback inflight entertainment. Passengers will be able to stream the latest movies, tv shows, and music. You can also play games.
For flight enthusiasts, you can see the flight map to find out where you are and get access to information like outside air temperature, speed, and estimated time of arrival.
Cuisine
Air New Zealand offers a New Zealand style of cuisine for each level of passenger service. We recommend visiting the Air New Zealand website and checking out their menus before you book. 10+ hours on a flight knowing that you won’t like the food wouldn’t be a great experience.
Our Thoughts On Air New Zealand’s Service From The U.S
New Zealand is definitely a sought after vacation destination for American travelers. The service that Air New Zealand brings to the states is a great reflection of the hospitality and care that the country and the airline processes.
With nonstop flights touching just about every corner of the country, American’s won’t have trouble finding a flight from a nearby airport or connecting, then flying onward.
The onboard service is top notch. You have the chance of flying on capable and comfortable long haul aircraft in the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787.
The only gripe is that some of the U.S – New Zealand routes might not be for everyone. It is difficult to sit on an airplane for such a long time. This is especially the case on the New York – Auckland route. That flight is over 17 hours long. Major consideration needs to be made if you’re not used to long haul flying or flying with young children.
However, Air New Zealand has a solution for that. You can break up your trip especially if coming from the East Coast by either stopping in Los Angeles or Hawaii, or perhaps both if you have that much time.
Overall, you can expect to have a great experience flying Air New Zealand on international flights from the United States to New Zealand.
Sources
https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Air-New-Zealand
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/travel/longest-flights-in-the-world
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/air-new-zealand-voted-the-best-airline-in-top-travel-awards
