Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) would look to start serving destinations on the US East Coast using aircraft sourced from a tentative widebody order, set to be announced next year.
In June, airline Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Christopher Luxon said studies focussing on the A350-1000 and A350-900(ULR) from Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) and the B787-10 and B777X from Boeing (BOE, Washington National) would be begin this year. Once delivered, the jets would be used to develop ultra-longhaul routes between New Zealand and North and South America.
Speaking to Forbes this week, Luxon expanding on those North American routes highlighting the prospect of non-stop services from Auckland International to New York (about 14,200 kilometers) and Chicago O'Hare (13,100 kilometres). Brazil has also been mentioned in South America. To increase loads, Air New Zealand will target also the Australia-Americas via Auckland market.
Air New Zealand currently serves Houston Intercontinental, Los Angeles International, and San Francisco on the US mainland, all of which are served using its B787-9, B777-200(ER) and B777-300(ER) fleets.
Luxon's comments come after Alan Joyce, his counterpart at Trans-Tasman rival Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) laid out his carrier's longhaul plans for the future. In his presentation last month, Joyce said Qantas's studies were focussing on the B777-8X and A350-900(ULR) and their abilities to deliver on ultralonghaul routes such as Melbourne Tullamarine-New York and Sydney Kingsford Smith-London Heathrow.
“Qantas has issued a challenge to both Airbus and Boeing to extend the range of new aircraft under development and make these non-stop flights possible by 2022,” he said.
