New American air service boost for NZ business visitor sector

Conventions and Incentives New Zealand (CINZ) is welcoming news of a new direct air service between the US and New Zealand announced today by Qantas and American Airlines.

CINZ Chief Executive Sue Sullivan says good air connectivity is crucial to growth for New Zealand’s lucrative conference and incentive sector.

“North America is becoming an increasingly important source of high-quality business event buyers for New Zealand. CINZ is certainly seeing a lot of interest from the North American market, both for our unique conferencing opportunities, and also for New Zealand’s premium incentive offerings,” she says.

American Airlines will add new a non-stop service between Auckland and Los Angeles in June 2016, pending regulatory approvals.

The new service is supported by Jetstar’s domestic connections to 11 New Zealand regional destinations and Qantas Group’s nearly 40 daily flights to Australia.

This new service adds to the expansion of Air New Zealand services to North America and the announced return of United Airlines to New Zealand.

Next month Air New Zealand will start flying between Auckland and Houston up to five times per week, adding to its existing direct services from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii and Vancouver.