Joint venture alliance partners Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines will boost capacity on the Auckland-Singapore service with an additional 35,000 seats available between late March and October 2020.
Air New Zealand will increase its flight frequency on this route from 12 to 14 services per week using its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner between March 29 and October 24, 2020, which will bring the total number of services operated by the two airlines to 21 per week.
Meanwhile, during the Easter peak travel period, Singapore Airlines will also replace its scheduled Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with the larger A380 aircraft to “meet strong demand”.
Below is the flight schedule for the Singapore-Auckland service operated by both airlines from March 29 to October 24 next year:
| Route | Flight No. | Departs | Arrives | Day | Aircraft |
| AKL-SIN | NZ282* | 2355 | 0640 (+1) | Daily | B787 |
| NZ284 | 1005 | 1650 | B787 | ||
| SQ286 | 1410 | 2100 | B777-300ER | ||
| SIN-AKL | NZ281 | 0850 | 2225 | B787 | |
| NZ283 | 1840 | 0815 (+1) | B787 | ||
| SQ285 | 2245 | 1220 (+1) | B777-300ER |
*It’s worth noting that Air New Zealand’s NZ282 Auckland-Singapore service will depart at 0055 before April 5 and after September 30 due to daylight savings.
Tickets for the new service operated by both airlines are available for purchase from today (August 14).
Nick Judd, chief strategy networks and alliances officer of Air New Zealand, said the changes come in response to “growing demand from customers at both ends of the route”.
He said: “These increases will allow customers the option of three daily, year-round flights between Auckland and Singapore, giving customers more options to travel point to point, as well as onwards to a range of destinations throughout India, Europe and South East Asia via Singapore.”
Tan Kai Ping, senior vice president marketing planning, said the increase in services “reinforced the benefits of the joint venture to customers”.
“Thanks to the Joint Venture we are, together, able to cater for the growing demand for travel to and from New Zealand that we have seen over the past 12 months,” said Tan.
Air New Zealand will also launch a winter seasonal service between Christchurch and Singapore from December 1 this year to February 22, 2020. The New Zealand flag carrier will operate this service five times a week using its new configuration Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, while its alliance partner Singapore Airlines offers a year-round daily service on this route with its A350 aircraft.
In addition to the Auckland and Christchurch services, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines also offer a four-times-weekly service between Wellington and Singapore via Australia under their joint alliance.
Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines launched the joint venture partnership in January 2015. The alliance has given Singapore Airlines customers access to Air New Zealand’s domestic network, while Air New Zealand customers also have access to over 90 destinations in Asia, Europe and South Africa served by Singapore Airlines.
Besides their own joint venture partnership, both airlines are Star Alliance members. Passengers can enjoy reciprocal frequent flyer benefits including flyer points earning and redemption, as well as lounge access.
