Air New Zealand Touches Down In New York

The first of Air New Zealand’s nonstop flights between the city of sails and the city that never sleeps landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport yesterday.

NZ2 took off from Auckland (AKL) at 7:40 p.m. NZDT on a Saturday, flying nonstop to New York (JFK) and taking a total of 15 hours and 46 minutes.

The total distance travelled by the Dreamliner 787-9 on this flight is 14,215 kilometres, making it the fourth-longest commercial flight in operation today.

On board the first flight was New Zealand’s Minister of Tourism, Hon. Stuart Nash, Chair Dame Therese Walsh, and Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran.

Foran has stated that he would be thrilled to see nonstop service between his two favourite cities, Auckland and New York.

“Air New Zealand is pleased to include New York City in its network of overseas destinations for the first time. By expanding our service to the East Coast, we’ll be able to introduce our North American customers to the twenty locations we offer in New Zealand, the Pacific, and Australia. Our customers will be quite pleased with this.

The airline’s new international menu, using the finest New Zealand products, was unveiled on the inaugural flight.

Seared Marlborough salmon, free-range Waikato chicken or bacon, and streaming green vegetables or fresh, crisp salads from orchards, fields, and greenhouses in Gisborne, Waikato, and the Manawatu are now available as premium add-ons for clients.

Including Chicago (beginning on 31 October), Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, and New York City, Air New Zealand currently flies to seven cities in North America.

The new nonstop service to NYC will operate three times each week on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

The initial round-trip flight from New York (JFK) to Auckland (Flight NZ1) will take off at 21:55 ET and take 17.5 hours to complete.

This week, Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand started a campaign in North America to promote New Zealand and urge tourists from the Americas to book a holiday in New Zealand.

After the New Zealand government lifted the mask mandate for international flights arriving in New Zealand and domestic flights on 13 September 2022, passengers flying on any airline operated by Air New Zealand were no longer required to cover their faces during flights.