Air New Zealand Service To New York Avoids Stopover

Passengers from New York to Auckland on Air New Zealand were informed of a stopover; however, the airline has since confirmed that the trip would go as planned and will fly the entire distance without stopping.

When Air New Zealand first announced that NZ1 would stop in Nadi, Fiji, it was because of high headwinds.

This is not the first time the new service, the world’s fourth-longest, has encountered issues with its nonstop promise, with a prior flight requiring 15 passengers to disembark to save weight. Another removed luggage and rebooked it on another flight.

Critics have argued that the 787-9’s range isn’t sufficient for a 16- or 17-hour flight if the plane has to make a little detour due to unforeseen circumstances.

The A350-1000s that Qantas plans to deploy for its Project Sunrise flights to New York and London have a range of nearly 18,000 km, but the 787-9s’ maximum range is only 14,010 km.

Because of the “combination of high headwinds created by jet streams and turbulence across the USA,” Air New Zealand’s chief operating officer Alex Marren confirmed that the planned route would include the fuel stopover.

“Our number one goal is to get our guests to their destinations safely,” Marren said. NZ1 will arrive in Auckland five hours later than scheduled because of a brief stop in Nadi to refuel and change over the crew.

The flight, which the company had previously referred to as a “gas and go,” would have been the first to require a stop since it began service in September if the layover had gone as planned.

Even though Air New Zealand launched the service with much enthusiasm and gave the 17-hour flight from New York to Auckland the prestigious ‘NZ1′ flight number and the 16-hour flight back from Auckland to New York the NZ2 flight number, the airline has had some embarrassing issues.

Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran called New York City “one of the world’s greatest cities,” adding that the company was “glad to add the Big Apple” to its list of 29 international destinations.

Expanding our East Coast service is wonderful news for our North American customers since it opens up a world of possibilities that includes New Zealand, the Pacific, and Australia.

A total of seven U.S. and Canadian cities are accessible, with Chicago starting yesterday and joining Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, and New York.

Qantas will launch a new service between Australia and New York City via Auckland, utilising the same 787-9s on14 June next year.

The Flying Kangaroo, on the other hand, cited a previous promise that the planes it had on order would be built “with greater room and fewer seats than most of our competitors.” The cabins aboard the Dreamliner are described as being “ideally adapted to longer international flights.”

Qantas’ 15-hour flight from Perth to Rome was made on the same plane.