This was published 7 years ago
Air New Zealand flights to US, Argentina and Canada: Airline targets Australians for long-haul flights
By Craig Platt
Air New Zealand wants to become the new transit hub for Australians travelling to North and South America, launching a campaign focusing on the airline's long-haul routes.
Speaking at the campaign launch in Sydney, Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon said six in 10 Australians didn't know Air New Zealand flew routes beyond trans-Tasman flights between Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Luxon said a large number of Australians already flew on the long-haul routes, but that the airline wanted to increase its market share.
Bryan Brown voices travelling goose Dave in the new Air New Zealand campaign.
"More than a quarter of all international/long-haul departures are bound for the USA, South America or Canada," he said. "Capturing just a little bit more of that market would see hundreds of thousands more Aussies flying with us to North and South America."
Air New Zealand currently offers flights via Auckland to Los Angeles, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver and Honolulu.
Air New Zealand will focus its efforts on targeting markets outside Sydney, where passengers can use Auckland Airport as a transit option rather than make a domestic-to-international transit at Sydney Airport.
This will mean that the overall travel time will be comparable for many passengers, Luxon said.
"For many of them they would be doing a domestic transfer, arriving at an airport like Sydney where it would take them half-an-hour to get across to the international terminal and a lot of mucking around.
"Whereas [with Air New Zealand] you can check in internationally, go straight through to Auckland and go through as a transit customer and not have to worry about customs or border control and seamlessly get on the long-haul flight from there."
Despite a weaker Australian dollar, Australians continue to flock to the US, with more than 900,000 travelling there in the year to March 2016, according to Tourism Research Australia data. This makes the US the third most-visited country for Australians after New Zealand and Indonesia.
Competition has heated up on trans-Pacific flights, with Qantas and Virgin Australia entering into joint ventures with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines respectively to increase capacity and network connections.
The Air New Zealand campaign is accompanied by a humorous video starring an animated goose named Dave, voiced by veteran Australian actor Bryan Brown.
To kick off the campaign, the airline is launching a sale from Friday with Sydney to Los Angeles and San Francisco fares from $999, Houston from $1099 and Buenos Aires from $1199.
Air New Zealand is also offering 50 per cent off selected "Skycouch" upgrades. The Skycouch is an innovative economy seat design that locks the footrest into a flat position. Across three seats this creates a flatbed style space for a couple in economy class.
The airline also announced it would introduce in-flight wi-fi in 2017, beginning with flights between Australia and New Zealand.
See also: Airbus A350 vs Dreamliner: Which new plane is best for long haul?
See also: Singapore Airlines launches new Australian route to NZ
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