Oct 23 (Reuters) - Air New Zealand Ltd said on
Wednesday it will launch a non-stop flight service between
Auckland and New York in October 2020, in a bid to take
advantage of strong visitor growth from North America.
The country's flag carrier also said it will stop the
lower-performing Los Angeles-to-London route by the same date,
which would allow it to direct the freed-up capacity to faster
growing markets.
"Air New Zealand is strongest when operating direct flights
to and from our home base and this reset will put us in the best
possible position to take advantage of increasing demand across
the Pacific Rim," acting Chief Executive Officer Jeff McDowall
said in a statement.
McDowall added that the route withdrawal would result in the
disestablishment of Air New Zealand's London cabin crew base
consisting of around 130 people and about 25 roles in its
Hammersmith sales office and ground team.
The company added that the Los Angeles-London route will
operate as scheduled until October 2020 and no tickets had been
sold beyond the date.
(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)