Air New Zealand Potentially Resuming London Flights
Intro
Air New Zealand used to operate daily flights to London from Los Angeles on a 777-300ER. The 777 would originate in Auckland, fly over to Los Angeles, and then onward to London. Passengers had the option to book the entirety of the journey in one or the solo Los Angeles to London route. However, due to COVID, this route was eventually cut.
Well, there has been an update, as Air New Zealand has requested a slot again at London Heathrow.
The Details
Air New Zealand has requested daily slots at London Heathrow for service starting in 2025. Guess what? These have been denied! Considering Air New Zealand sold their slots for 27 million back in 2020, there is no surprise here.
However, permission to fly into London Gatwick has been granted which I guess is better than nothing. You know what they say:
When Heathrow fails, you go to Gatwick.
While requesting slots at a city is the first hurdle before route planning, I would be curious to see what route Air New Zealand would operate to London. Before the pandemic, it was Los Angeles, and a long time ago, it was Hong Kong.
The Los Angeles-London market is highly competitive, to the point where Delta has cut their service, and UA has trimmed down their service to only daily flights.
My Thoughts
Looking at Air New Zealand's stance from an outside lens, flying to London makes zero sense in the grand scheme of things. The nonstop routing is 11,000 miles, and thus, it won't be available until they order a ULR variant similar to one for Qantas Project Sunrise. There are plenty of one-stop options, from Qatar Airways to Emirates.
Last but not least, if they are already complaining about aircraft shortages, how on earth is using 3 Dreamliners in a market that is destined to be financially bad helpful?
Until Air New Zealand can operate nonstop service between the two cities, I think that they should stay away. Even then, I don't see a daily service working between the two capitals...
Final Thoughts
Air New Zealand might have London flights on the agenda as they have requested slots in the capital. Unsurprisingly, the Heathrow slots were denied, but they were offered Gatwick slots. I wouldn't get your hopes up on this route happening, but anything is possible in today's world.
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