Air New Zealand has resumed flights between Auckland and San Francisco and announced firm restart dates to Honolulu and Houston. With the airline already flying back to Los Angeles and launching its long-awaited nonstop services to New York and Chicago later this year, New Zealand’s national carrier will be operating to six US cities by the end of October.

Air New Zealand’s SFO flights resume

On Thursday, Air New Zealand pushed back its first regular passenger service to San Francisco in a long time. NZ8 is now departing Auckland (AKL) at 19:50 local time every Thursday, Saturday, and Tuesday for the 12-hour flight across the Pacific to San Francisco (SFO), landing there at 12:50 local time on the same day.

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After half a day on the ground in SFO, the same plane turns around to operate NZ7 back to Auckland, departing San Francisco at 22:05 every Thursday, Saturday, and Tuesday for the run down to AKL, touching down in New Zealand’s biggest city at 06:10 two days later. All of Air New Zealand’s US services are serviced by its three-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

Air New Zealand’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners operate all the airline’s US flights. Photo: Getty Images

Air New Zealand reboots its US network as New Zealand reopens

After beginning to let fully vaccinated Kiwis return home earlier this year and raising the border gates to fully vaccinated Australians this week, New Zealand will reopen to fully vaccinated travelers from its long list of visa waiver countries (including the US) on May 1, and barring any further hiccups, will reopen to travelers from anywhere in October – subject to New Zealand’s normal entry requirements. Also from May 1, Air New Zealand will end its current no jab, no-fly vaccination policy for international passengers.

“Recommencing services across our North America routes as the border reopens is another step towards the gradual resumption of flights to destinations across our international network,” says Leanne Geraghty, Chief Customer and Sales Officer at Air New Zealand.

In more aviation news, Houston (IAH) will see Air New Zealand flights resume on Thursday, July 7. NZ28 will leave Auckland at 21:55 local time every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday and make the 13-and-a-half- hour flight across to the Texan city, landing in Houston at 4:20 p.m. local time on the same day. Later that day, Air New Zealand’s Dreamliner will depart Houston at 21:55 to make the 15-hour trek back to AKL, landing there at 05:55 two days later – just in time for breakfast.

Air New Zealand’s US network at the end of 2022. Image: gcmap.com

The best US network of any Southwest Pacific airline

On Tuesday, July 12, Air New Zealand’s Boeing 787-9s will also restart services to Honolulu (HNL). NZ10 will leave Auckland at 21:55 every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday to fly the leisurely eight-and-a-half-hour hop up to Honolulu, landing there at 08:30 local time on the same day. After a fairly nearly 90-minute turnaround, NZ9 will leave HNL every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday at 10:00 and hustle back to Auckland, landing at 17:00 the following day.

Air New Zealand’s thrice-weekly Dreamliner flights to New York JFK start on September 17 and provide the only nonstop flights between any Southwest Pacific city and the biggest city in the US. The same can be said for Air New Zealand’s flights between Auckland and Chicago (ORD), slated to start on October 30. Alongside the existing flights between Auckland and Los Angeles, that’s a tidy six cities in the US Air New Zealand will fly to by the years’ end – easily the best US network of any airline from the Southwest Pacific.

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“The fact that we retained daily passenger service to Australia throughout the lowest points of the pandemic – and were the only airline to do so – shows our commitment to Australia,” said Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of international network and alliances at United. “We are thrilled to resume our san francisco to Melbourne service and see a bright future ahead for United, for Melbourne and for US-Australia travel.”

Since Australia announced in February that the country would open its borders to international travelers after being closed for nearly two years, there has been remarkable growth in travel demand from the US United has more capacity from the United States to Australia than any other US carrier, and the resumption of the airline’s san francisco–Melbourne service will provide customers with even more access to Australia ahead of the busy summer travel period. Additionally, United’s recently announced commercial alliance with Virgin Australia will offer further connectivity to top Australian destinations with convenient one-stop flights.

United has worked closely with the Victorian government on the resumption of this service, as well as on broader plans for the market as demand continues to grow.

“We’re backing more direct international flights to Melbourne because we know the critical role they play in supporting Victorian businesses and creating jobs,” said Martin Pakula, Victorian Minister for Industry Support and Recovery. “Having more direct flights from the US means it is even easier for visitors to come to Victoria and enjoy everything we are famous for – whether that’s our major sporting events, food scene or cultural institutions.”

United began offering direct service to Melbourne from los Angeles in 2014 and launched non-stop flights between san francisco other Melbourne in October of 2019, prior to the onset of the pandemic.

For more information and to book flights, please visit united.com.

About United

United’s shared purpose is “Connecting People. Uniting the World.” In 2019, United and United Express® carriers operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers. United has the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including US mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, los Angeles, new York/Newark, san francisco other Washington, DC For more about how to join the United team, please visit united.com/careers and more information about the company is at united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “UAL”.

SOURCE United Airlines

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While it’s not uncommon to find flights from New York City to Paris for under $ 500, it is extremely rare to find cheap flights from the West Coast to the City of Love. But the low-cost airline French Bee is now offering round-trip flights from San Francisco to Paris for just under $ 400.

One-way trips start at $ 189 from San Francisco to Paris, but can only be booked through the French Bee website, airport ticket center, or call center. The ticket includes a £ 26 piece of luggage and is a non-refundable ticket. And as with everything, there is a catch: The tickets are limited and have no guarantee for eternity. So if you wanted to go from California to Paris, act fast.

That’s not the only thing the French Bee has to offer. There are also cheap deals between San Francisco and Tahiti (one-way tickets from $ 329) and New York and Paris (one-way tickets from $ 199). The same restrictions and restrictions apply to these flights. Start by finding dates and reading the fine print on frenchbee.com.

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Workers unload cargo from an airplane at Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province on Nov. 12 during the Alibaba Group’s Double 11 global shopping festival, which begins Nov. 1. [Photo/Xinhua]

If “nothing is normal” due to COVID-19, the civil aviation industry will find a lifeline for revenue and growth impulses in air freight

When the COVID-19 pandemic made travel restrictions the norm last year, restricting commercial flights, causing the largest decline in the civil aviation industry worldwide since the 1950s, and causing net losses of $ 126.4 billion, airlines were caught by surprise and fought to stay afloat.

However, the industry found that the dark cloud did have a silver lining: rapid growth in air cargo due to the huge demand to keep goods, especially medical supplies and essentials, moving no matter what.

The focus on freight traffic since the beginning of COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact not only on the aviation industry, but also on global supply chains, helping to transform related systems, technologies, investment patterns and future prospects.

The first half of this year offered the first glimmer of hope. According to the International Air Transport Association, air freight recorded the strongest growth in the first half of the year since 2017.

IATA data also showed that demand for air freight was primarily for the transportation of vaccines, personal protective equipment and vital medical supplies. At the end of 2020, the industry-wide freight tonne-kilometers were again close to the pre-crisis values. (Ton-km is a unit of measurement for cargo handling. For example, 2 tons of cargo transported over 2 km would be 4 ton-km.)

Last year, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Cathay Pacific Airways were the top five airlines by scheduled freight tonne kilometers.

IATA General Manager Willie Walsh said, “Airfreight is doing brisk business as the global economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 crisis. With demand growing 8 percent above pre-crisis levels in the first half of the year, air freight is a win. Lifeline for many airlines struggling with border closings that continue to devastate the international passenger business. It is important that the strong performance is expected to continue in the first half of the year. “

In China, the volume of air freight and mail transports reached 3.74 million tons in the first half of the year, 24.6 percent more than in the previous year. This included the air transport volume of exclusive cargo planes, which, according to the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority, reached 1.52 million tons, an increase of 44.2 percent over the same period in 2019.

Air freight rates on the Trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trade routes rose by 20 to 40 percent in August and are expected to continue to rise after new measures to contain the new COVID-19 cases were taken at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai in mid-August, so a report by Air Cargo World.

The air freight sector entered its busy season earlier this month. The peak of demand usually lasts until the end of the year. The prices will fluctuate at a high level, industry experts observed.

Due to the reduced capacity at Pudong Airport, carriers see longer transit times than normal as the cargo waits for departures.

Flexport, a San Francisco-based global logistics platform company, expects air freight prices to and from China to remain at current high levels, if not higher, as capacities in the Chinese market continue to be reduced.

Henry Ko, Managing Director of Flexport Asia, said: “This is of course compounded by the normal volume pressures during peak season. Normally, prices would go down by the end of the year and into January, but we’ve learned that nothing is normal here. ”Therefore, predictions are difficult. We will constantly review and balance our supply and demand in order to optimize performance and keep our customers’ valuable cargo moving. “

Qi Qi, an independent aviation industry analyst, said Shanghai Pudong International Airport is the largest international air cargo port in China, but when COVID-19 cases emerged from the airport’s international cargo area, it had a negative impact on cargo handling efficiency and suppressed it the freight distribution system.

“In the short term, supply will lag behind demand, which will lead to higher freight rates. Freight rates are unlikely to remain high in the medium to long term. Air cargo capacity at Pudong International Airport is expected to return to normal after the pandemic is better controlled, “Qi said.

Wang Jiangmin, a civil aviation commentator for China Southern Airlines, said, “Air freight transportation prices have increased due to the reduced number of flights due to the pandemic. The strict pandemic prevention measures and the freight backlog have exacerbated the situation. “

Rising freight rates in the relatively slower shipping sector also drove air freight demand up in the already tense situation.

On September 10th, the Shanghai Export Containerized Freight Index, a measure of the actual sea freight rates of the main Chinese ports, reached a record high of 4,568.18 points.

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United Airlines is changing its flights to and from New York’s John F Kennedy Airport. United’s Boeing 767-300s have been serving the airport since returning to JFK earlier this year. From October 5th, United’s aircraft at JFK will switch to Boeing 757-200s.

United Airlines will switch from JFK to Boeing 757-200 in October. Photo: Vincenzo Pace / Simple Flying

Overall, more seats from JFK, but fewer premium seats

The result is that slightly larger aircraft will serve United’s two sectors to and from JFK. United’s 757-200 seats 169 passengers versus 167 passengers carried in the Boeing 767-300. But the 767-300 has far more premium seats than the 757-200. As noted in One Mile At A Time, the reduction in premium seating capacity suggests that United’s attempt to use premium transcontinental traffic from JFK is not going as well as expected.

After a six-year absence, United Airlines returned to JFK to fly only two routes – the overland flights to Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO). United’s main hub in New York is 33 miles west of Newark.

United is trying to secure a larger part of the lucrative business travel market for itself across the network. Last month, the airline confirmed that business travel is recovering faster than expected, reaching around 60% of 2019 levels.

The transcontinental routes between the economic centers of the east coast and the west coast are particularly lucrative. United’s problem was that many business travelers preferred JFK to Newark, and it lost market share and revenue to competing airlines. Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and American Airlines all offer a high quality, premium seating product across from JFK’s west coast airports.

United Boeing 767-300 will leave JFK in early October. Photo: Vincenzo Pace / Simple Flying

Market task or market reality?

With its Boeing 757-200 aircraft operating out of JFK, United Airlines will offer far more economy class seats and far fewer premium seats. And the remaining premium seats are less premium. United’s Polaris seats on the 767-300 have a desirable 1-1-1 layout while the layout on the 757-200 is 2-2.

Whether the change in aircraft type is a signal of surrender from United or a confirmation that there is more revenue chasing mainstream economy class passengers is a guess. But the vast majority of passengers don’t care much about aircraft types. Working up a sweat on aircraft types and cabin configurations is largely the job of frequent fliers and airline junkies.

A United Boeing 757-200 climbs out of LAX. Photo: Vincenzo Pace / Simple Flying

The gist of United’s plane swap

United has two daily departures from JFK to LAX, UA515 departing at 8:45 AM and UA517 departing at 6:50 PM. The final 767-300 departure is UA515 on October 5th. UA517 that evening and scheduled flights thereafter are listed on United’s online flight schedules, which operate from 757-200.

The last United 767-300 from LAX is UA516, departing at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, October 4th. 200s.

United Airlines also offers two daily round-trip flights from JFK-SFO. From JFK, UA521 departs at 8:00 AM and UA523 departs at 5:10 PM. The Boeing 757-200 will fly UA523 for the first time on Tuesday, October 5th, after which it will operate both flights to San Francisco.

The 757-200 takes over from SFO heading east on the morning of October 5th. The aircraft type will debut this morning on UA520, departing at 9:00 a.m. Thereafter, the 757-200 will operate both the UA520 and the UA522 afternoon flight to JFK.

United doesn’t say much about the plane change. But despite its lackluster status, the United 757-200 fleet has its fans. While many might condemn United to pull their 767s from JFK, many more don’t get excited. Regardless of the aircraft type, the longer term question is whether United can operate its overland flights from JFK

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