Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) revealed on December 12 that its alliance partner Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong International) will take over the operations of the Hong Kong International to Auckland International service for the majority of the next three months.
The decision gives Air New Zealand flexibility in terms of its international capacity as it continues to deal with the ongoing Rolls-Royce engine issues on its B787-9 fleet.
"The Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 777-300ER are modern aircraft of a similar high standard to our Air New Zealand fleet, so we know customers will receive the high level of service Cathay Pacific is known for," Air New Zealand Senior Manager Customer Care and Communications Doug Grant said in a company press release.
"This aircraft capacity will help fill the gaps in our schedule to get people to their destinations in the coming weeks and it's been beneficial to have our alliance partner Cathay Pacific step in and assist us at this busy time."
Between January 6 and 19, 2020, Cathay Pacific will utilise one of its 280-seat A350-900s daily on the New Zealand to Hong Kong sector. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the Asian carrier currently has 24 of these aircraft in its fleet.
From February 1 until March 28, Cathay Pacific will then provide a 294-seat B777-300(ER) on the city pair, flown daily during February, and 5x weekly in March. Air New Zealand aircraft will operate the Hong Kong-Auckland route between January 20 and 31. Cathay Pacific has a fleet of 51 B777-300(ER)s in operation.
The Cathay Pacific operated services will depart Auckland at 1145L in January (1140L in February and March), arriving in Hong Kong at 1800L. The flight from Hong Kong will depart at 1825L, arriving in Auckland at 1025L in January (1020L in February and March).
The short-term capacity fix replaces Air New Zealand's own daily B777-200 service between Auckland and Hong Kong, flights NZ81/80. Cathay Pacific already operates 2x daily between the two cities.
The airline announced last month it will be making some international changes to its schedule as a result of issues impacting some of its Rolls-Royce engines. This includes the suspension of its twice-weekly seasonal Christchurch-Perth International service, cancelling its second daily Auckland-Perth service from December 10 until January 5, and 20 other international cancellations from December 10 until January 2.
