American Airlines takes off from Auckland to Los Angeles

AMERICAN AIRLINES TAKES OFF FROM AUCKLAND TO LOS ANGELES

New Service Operated by B787-8 Dreamliner

AUCKLAND, 25 June 2016: American Airlines’ inaugural Auckland-Los Angeles service started today, opening up more choice for New Zealanders travelling to the United States.

The new daily non-stop service, operated by American’s state-of-art Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, adds almost 1,600 seats a week on the Auckland-Los Angeles route and connects to over 220 daily flights to more than 70 destinations around the world – more than any other carrier in Los Angeles. For inbound visitors, the new route taps in to Qantas Group’s network of more than 70 destinations in Australia and New Zealand. Qantas and its subsidiary airline, Jetstar, operate up to 175 return flights a week between New Zealand and Australia.

Growth in New Zealand is the next step in the expanded partnership between American and Qantas*, which has provided customers with more options across the Pacific, including American’s Sydney-Los Angeles service and Qantas’ Sydney-San Francisco routes – both of which began operating in December last year.

Auckland-Los Angeles is the seventh new trans-Pacific route that American Airlines has added over the past three years, doubling its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Fernand Fernandez, American’s VP, Global Marketing, said: “Auckland is a destination we have admired for a long time. This new route is critically important for American’s strategic expansion in the Asia Pacific region and a key part of our partnership with Qantas. We are glad that customers can now have more choices to fly to the United States and beyond.”

“American Airlines is investing USD $3 billion to improve customer experience. We are the first and only foreign airline in Auckland airport to adopt mobile kiosks for check-in and self bag tagging. It provides a convenient option for our customers to enjoy an efficient check-in experience without lining up at counters,” added Mr Fernandez.

Gareth Evans, CEO, Qantas International and Freight, said: “It’s been fantastic to see the way New Zealanders have responded to this new service, which brings competition to the Los Angeles route for the first time in many years.

“The bigger, stronger partnership we’re building with American Airlines is all about giving our customers more options and better experiences, and we’re expecting that to translate into more tourism and trade for the New Zealand economy.

“Qantas and Jetstar are growing within New Zealand and on trans-Tasman routes to Australia, so there are great opportunities for US visitors to travel widely and get to know our amazing region,” said Mr Evans.

Route schedule

Auckland to Los Angeles

Departs AKL at 1:20 p.m.

Arrives at LAX at 6:30 a.m, same day

Los Angeles to Auckland

Departs LAX at 10:45 p.m.

Arrives at AKL at 6:35 a.m., two days later

ENDS

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