Air New Zealand launches 17-hour flight to New York City

(DailyExpertNews) — For the first time in its history, Air New Zealand offers direct flights between Auckland and New York City.

Launching on September 17, 2022 from Auckland, the ultra-long-haul route is yet another exciting news signaling New Zealand’s gradual reopening to global tourism.

Flights from Auckland will be operated as NZ2 and those from New York’s JFK airport will be numbered NZ1. Those numbers symbolize how important the new route is to Air New Zealand (ANZ).

“Traditionally, flight numbers 1 and 2 are used for an airline’s flagship route. And that’s what New York will be — our flagship route,” the airline’s CEO Greg Foran said in a statement.

Each leg will operate on Boeing 787 Dreamliners three times a week. Tickets are already on sale on the ANZ website.

Travelers from New Zealand depart Auckland Airport (AKL) at 7:40 PM and then spend 16 hours on board before finally arriving at JFK. Flights departing from JFK to Auckland clock in at 17 hours 35 minutes, thus adding to the list of the world’s longest flights.

“We’ve worked incredibly hard over the past few years to make this ultra-long-haul service a reality,” Foran added. “To ensure that customers arrive in New York feeling refreshed, we have put a lot of thought into the onboard experience and teams are working around the clock to make sure this is a great flying experience.”

Currently the longest passenger flight in the world between Singapore and JFK is operated by Singapore Airlines. It covers 9,534 miles and spends approximately 18 hours in the air.

Also in contention for one of the world’s longest routes is the flight from Perth in Western Australia to London with Qantas. It will resume in late March after a pandemic-related hiatus.

Qantas’ long-dreamed direct flight between Sydney and London, dubbed “Project Sunrise”, will be a flight of over 19 hours that will easily claim the number one spot upon launch. The project was halted when Covid-19 broke out around the world.

In an interview with DailyExpertNews’s Richard Quest late last year, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline plans to rethink the development of these ultra-long-haul routes in 2022, with the goal of launching in the next two to three years. .

The pandemic was responsible for many aviation-related records.

Normally, that flight involves a layover in Los Angeles, but travel restrictions made that impossible and allowed the airline to continue the entire journey without risking a layover.

Air New Zealand already operates several routes between its home country and the United States — direct to Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco — as well as one to Vancouver just north of the border in British Columbia, Canada.