Auckland Airport welcomes Air China’s new daily service

Auckland Airport welcomes Air China’s new daily service

Auckland Airport welcomes Air China’s new daily service between Beijing and Auckland, which commences 10 December 2015in partnership with Air New Zealand.

Norris Carter, Auckland Airport’s general manager aeronautical commercial, says, “Air China will bring an additional 123,000 seats per year and deliver an estimated $149 million annually to the New Zealand economy.”

There were 315,248 Chinese visitors to New Zealand in the year to 31 July 2015, up 29.5% on the previous 12 months. China is also New Zealand’s second largest international tourist market, after Australia.

“A specific focus of Auckland Airport has been to address the seasonality of tourism by increasing the number of international arrivals during off-peak months, through our Four Seasons, Five Senses marketing campaign. We are therefore delighted that this new Beijing daily service not only increases year-round and Chinese New Year air connectivity, it will significantly improve connectivity during the tourism industry’s shoulder and off-peak seasons. For example, with the announcement of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese interest in snow sports is increasing which is likely to have flow-on benefits to our ski industry and winter holiday destinations.”

“The Air China-Air New Zealand partnership will provide New Zealanders with better access to domestic destinations in China. It will also further improve air connectivity between New Zealand and Europe, which will help to grow our European tourism markets,” says Mr Carter.

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