There had been speculation in the Antipodean press that Air New Zealand would axe one of its London routes this year. The kiwi flag-carrier operates from Auckland to London via both Hong Kong and Los Angeles. But its international services have been losing NZ$1 million every week and cutbacks were expected.
But according to the NZ Herald, Air New Zealand will continue to operate its London services although capacity cuts (use of smaller planes or less frequent flights) are not being ruled out in order to cope with a decline in visitor numbers.
In a letter to staff, the airline’s CEO Rob Fyfe, said, “It’s no secret that we are struggling to make London profitable, just as our competitors are also struggling in this task, not just with London but on most ultra long-haul routes.”
“We have no current intention of withdrawing our presence from any market we serve but it does mean adjusting capacity to meet demand where appropriate.”
Air New Zealand rosters one of its new and larger B777-300ERs for the daily flight via Los Angeles. The five times a week service via Hong Kong is flown by a smaller B777-200.
Whereas the B777-300ER is equipped with the carrier’s latest inflight products, the B777-200 comes with older style seating. It is unclear whether or not or when the latter aircraft type will be retrofitted with the new seating which would include wider Premium Economy seating and the Skycouch in economy class.
The UK remains the second largest source of visitors to New Zealand after Australia.
For more information visit airnz.co.uk.
Report by Alex McWhirter
