Air New Zealand to Increase Perth Auckland Capacity

Air New Zealand and alliance partner Virgin Australia recently announced plans to boost capacity on the busy Auckland-Perth route by more than 20% in the upcoming financial year.

From 3 September, Air New Zealand will replace its 234 seat Boeing 767-300 with a 304 seat Boeing 777-200ER aircraft on its non-stop Auckland-Perth service.

The introduction of the 777-200ER on Auckland-Perth adds another 70 seats on each flight and introduces lie-flat Business Premier beds and Premium Economy to the route for the first time.

Air New Zealand Group General Manager Australasia Bruce Parton says Perth is one of the airline’s fastest growing routes, with a significant increase in demand over the past 12 months.

“Western Australia is the fastest-growing economy in Australia and we’ve seen double-digit growth in visitor arrivals from Perth over the past year, with particularly strong growth over the past quarter.

“This has prompted us, in conjunction with our alliance partner Virgin Australia, to review our schedule and capacity to better match that strong demand from travellers on both sides of the Tasman. We’re confident the 777 will be a very popular choice for this route and that bookings will continue to grow as a result.”

More than 80 percent of the 30,000 customers Air New Zealand carried from Perth to Auckland last year were heading to New Zealand for leisure, highlighting the attractiveness of New Zealand as a holiday destination.

http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/press-release-2012-significant-capacity-boost-for-auckland-perth-alliance-services for media release.