Air NZ postpones NY, cuts Buenos Aires, LAX-LHR services

24th April 2020 By Staff Reporter | news@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

Air New Zealand has postponed the launch of its non-stop Auckland to New York service.

Air New Zealand will not resume its suspended Auckland-Buenos Aires and Los Angeles-London routes and has postponed the launch of its non-stop service to New York.

The airline said this morning that it had been forced to make the changes “due to the deep impact of Covid-19 on forward travel demand”.

The Buenos Aires and Los Angeles-London routes were currently suspended until 30 June, with the airline announcing last year that it was ending the latter service in October 2020. Prior to the pandemic, Air New Zealand operated a daily Los Angeles-London service and up to five times weekly from Auckland to Buenos Aires.

The planned launch on 29 October 2020 of the non-stop Auckland-New York service had now been postponed until late 2021 at the earliest.

“It’s deeply disappointing to be in this position,” said Air New Zealand’s chief networks, strategy and alliances officer, Nick Judd.

“Our people have worked tenaciously over the years to build these markets and excitement was growing for our non-stop New York flight. However, the effects of Covid-19 continue to bite; we expect most countries to take a cautious approach to international travel in the next year and we have to be pragmatic.”

Judd added that the current Government travel restrictions and border closure would continue for some time and demand for Air New Zealand’s Los Angeles-London service was unlikely to recover before the planned exit in October.

“Argentina has been challenging before the pandemic and we don’t expect this market to recover quickly,” he said.

The carrier was currently operating a limited international network until 30 June to keep air links open for essential travel and cargo movement on key trade routes.

Air New Zealand said its total capacity had been reduced to 95% of pre-Covid-19 levels.