Air New Zealand (Air NZ) will introduce three more weekly rotations per week on its popular Auckland - San Francisco route during the peak Northern winter period between mid-December and March 2015, including double daily flights on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. This will be the first time the airline has operated more than daily return services on the route and represents a ten per cent increase in capacity over the previous Northern winter period.

Air New Zealand chief sales and commercial officer, Cam Wallace said the Northern winter season is traditionally a busy travel period with strong demand for the airline’s North American services. It will offer ten flights per week during the period and will also introduce a more flexible schedule with the new mid-afternoon flight departing Auckland at 3:30pm and arriving in San Francisco at 6:45am.

“The timing, which differs from our traditional long haul evening departures, will give customers more choice around when they fly. It also opens up the possibility for easier connections, particularly to East Coast destinations such as New York and Washington,” said Mr Wallace.

The addition of two new Boeing 777-300s to Air NZ fleet mid this year is fueling this growth on San Francisco, whilst also allowing it to again operate 17 services a week to Los Angeles over the peak period.

“The new aircraft will operate two services per day between Auckland and Los Angeles and six days per week between Auckland and San Francisco. The additional services also support tourism growth from the US, which increased nearly 11 per cent in the past year and is aligned with the Tourism Industry Association’s Tourism 2025 goal of growing sustainable air capacity,” added Wallace.