If ultra-long haul flying is the last frontier of aviation, just waiting to be explored, than Air New Zealand can't wait to get started.
Geography makes Air New Zealand, based in a remote country of five million, an obvious player. The two longest flights in the world both serve Auckland, and four of the top five longest flights (operating or scheduled to operate) serve Auckland or Sydney.
“We are one of top five airlines in world in terms of distance,” said CEO Christopher Luxon in an interview. “We end up flying a normal [international] flight 12 or 13 hours.”
In December 2015, Air New Zealand began Auckland-Houston, a flight of about 7,400 miles, not quite long enough to crack the list of the world’s ten longest flights. Luxon said he envisions flying to New York (about 8,800 miles) and Chicago once the airline secures new airplanes.
Air New Zealand serves four U.S. destinations – Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Los Angeles has two daily flights. United, which has hubs in all three continental U.S. cities, is a Star Alliance partner.
Chicago is also a United hub: Luxon said he has not yet evaluated whether the carrier would serve United’s Newark hub or New York Kennedy.
The U.S.-New Zealand market, Luxon said, is primarily for “premium leisure travelers,” a market Air New Zealand targets with high service levels. The carrier does not follow “the corporate road warrior model” that is common to U.S. airlines, he said.
Air New Zealand is “a small airline that punches way above its weight,” said Patrick Quayle, United Airlines Vice President of International Network. United and Air New Zealand have an immunized joint venture on U.S.-New Zealand routes. “We are not allowed to discuss Australia,” Quayle noted.
While geography makes Air New Zealand primarily a long-haul carrier, the outspoken Luxon gives it personality. He once wrote that the history of New Zealand business was filled with “self-interested inebriates running potentially great companies into the ground;” he included previous owners of Air New Zealand.
Today, Air New Zealand is the most prestigious company in its home country, Luxon said.
Additionally, it has been profitable every year since 2003. Luxon, who joined the airline from Unilever Canada in 2011, said the airline industry has a lot to learn from consumer products companies.
“Airlines don’t put customers first is what you learn in that business,” he said. In an industry where executives often move from carrier to carrier, Luxon is reluctant to hire from other airlines. “They move from one airline to another and they do exactly the same thing,” he said. “You need to stimulate change.”
Air New Zealand was famously outmaneuvered in 2014, when it was first to take delivery of the Boeing 787-9 but somehow found itself second to fly the aircraft. Japanese carrier ANA moved more quickly and flew the first commercial flight, a landmark in aviation.
Three years later, it makes no difference. Air New Zealand operates nine 787-9s on key routes to China, Buenos Aires and – in the winter – to Houston. At 7,851 miles, Auckland-Houston is the carrier’s longest route.
While pleased with the 787-9, Luxon is negotiating with Airbus and Boeing regarding Air New Zealand’s next round of widebody purchases, intended to replace aging 777-200s in the early 2020s. The carrier is reportedly considering both the 777X and the A350.
Already, Air New Zealand has one of the world’s youngest fleets – the average age of its aircraft is seven years.
The carrier’s top three international destinations are Australia, China and the U.S: it has a 45% share of New Zealand’s international traffic and an 80% domestic shares.
Its 787 routes include Auckland to Buenos Aires, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita. In the “Trans-Tasman” market to Australia, Air New Zealand’s 787s cross the Tasman Sea to serve Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
Increasingly, airlines are eyeing ultra-long distance routes. In January, United will begin Houston-Sydney, which will become the fourth longest route in the world.
Currently, according to OAG, the world's longest flights are Qatar's 9,026-mile Doha-Auckland flight aboard a Boeing 777 and Emirates' 8,819-mile Dubai-Auckland flight aboard an Airbus A380.
At 8,700 miles, United’s Los Angeles-Singapore will become the third-longest flight in the world, as well as the longest U.S.-origination flight.
At 8,596 miles, Houston-Sydney would be fourth. Qantas' 8,576-mile Sydney-Dallas flight, aboard an A380, would be fifth, and San Francisco-Singapore, at 8,435 miles, would be sixth.
