Qantas Announces New 16hr Direct Flight From Auckland To New York

Qantas has just launched a new flight route connecting Australia and New York City via Auckland.

The new service, which will start in June of next year after a three-year break due to Covid, will fly to New York three days a week.

The news was shared by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce on Thursday, in conjunction with the company’s full-year financial results for 2022.

Mr. Joyce said that three new Boeing 787 Dreamliners are being delivered next year and that these planes would be used to fly the new route.

According to Mr. Joyce, “customer feedback on our direct London and Rome services show how well suited our Dreamliner cabins are to longer international flights like these.” This is because the cabins of the Dreamliners were designed with more space and fewer seats than most of their competitors.

As he put it,

Having the option to connect in Auckland makes this route appealing to Australians and provides New Zealanders with more alternatives.

Although the first flights on the new route won’t be until June of 2023, customers may start booking their flights right now.

It’s worth noting that Air New Zealand has also announced this service, with nonstop flights to New York beginning on September 17 of this year.

This route is the airline’s first nonstop flight between New Zealand and New York City.

The flights from Auckland will operate as NZ2, and the one departing from New York’s JFK airport will be designated NZ1.

A company’s most popular routes usually get the first and second flight numbers. The airline’s CEO, Greg Foran, stated, “New York will be our main route.”

Boeing 787 Dreamliners will make the journey between the two cities three times a week. The Air New Zealand website is already selling tickets for the flight.

From Auckland to JFK, the travel time is 16 hours, then flying back to Auckland takes 17hr and 35 minutes.

Singapore Airlines route from Singapore to New York City’s JFK Airport is the longest commercial passenger flight in the world. A total of 9,534 miles are flown throughout the approximately 18-hour flight time.

Qantas’ direct flights from Sydney and Melbourne to London and New York are scheduled to commence in late 2025; they will be the longest flying route in the world.

Currently, Qantas runs six flights per day to Auckland from Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne; however, once the recently announced flight from Sydney to Auckland to New York begins operating, this number will grow to eleven services per day.