Next month the two airlines will start new service to Sydney: American will fly from Los Angeles and Qantas added a flight from San Francisco.
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Three-way deal… American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce in Auckland.
American Airlines chief executive and chair Doug Parker said the airline was excited to be flying to New Zealand.
Parker said American Airlines and Qantas had yet to work out prices, but said consumers would benefit from the “friendly competition” with Air New Zealand, which had held a monopoly on the route since 2012.
“This new service will give more choice and lower fares for travelers on the Auckland-Los Angeles route”. In April, the New Zealand carrier deepened its partnership with United Airlines for routes to the mainland USA, allowing it to add Houston to a line-up of North American destinations including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Honolulu.
When American Airlines said in June it would investigate direct flights to New Zealand Air New Zealand’s share price took a hammering, although it has recovered since.
He says New Zealand consumers would like to see fares drop and this will increase the number of tourists coming into New Zealand and increase the business links with United States.
“Growth in the Asia Pacific is critical to American Airlines”, Parker told reporters Wellington on Wednesday.
The expansion of the alliance has been given interim approval by the Australian regulator – in spite of objections by Air New Zealand and Hawaiian Airlines – and has been considered over the last three months by the New Zealand ministry because of the potential impact on this market.
“Given American Airlines’ extensive domestic network in the United States, the alliance also means New Zealand will be a more attractive destination for Americans than ever before”.
Bridges said the service marked “the first direct, non-stop competition” between the One World and Star Alliance airline alliances on the route. “We are working with American Airlines to ensure this new service is sustainable and grows tourism between our two countries”. The Qantas Group today offers services across a network spanning more than 200 destinations in 53 countries, including Australia and those served by codeshare partner airlines.
That mirrored a fall in June when American flagged its intention to begin flights to New Zealand, when it announced it was returning to Australia with a Sydney-Los Angeles service starting next month.
He and Joyce said they could partner on an additional route between New Zealand and Dallas down the track.
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The route will provide competition to Air New Zealand’s current monopoly of direct travel to the United States.
