Air New Zealand - Continental Airlines Code Share an added Tourism Boost
Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines have today commenced a reciprocal code share agreement, making travel to New Zealand easier and more convenient for Americans from some of the most populous states in the USA.
Air New Zealand will code share on more than 540 flights per week to and from Continental Airline's main hubs serving Houston, New York and Cleveland connecting to Air New Zealand services to and from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Auckland.
Continental Airlines will code share on these Air New Zealand trans-Pacific services, including the services via Rarotonga, Apia and Tonga, as well as all Auckland trans-Tasman and domestic New Zealand services and also between Auckland and Hong Kong.
"This presents exciting inbound tourism opportunities for New Zealand, especially when you consider Continental is the world's fifth largest airline," says Air New Zealand Group General Manager Ed Sims.
"Air New Zealand will be code sharing on services including to and from Continental's main base in Houston - the second largest state in the USA with a population of more than 25 million people.
"There were 198,000 visitors from the USA to New Zealand in the 12 months to February 2010, with just 10,000 from Texas and 11,000 from New York State, so this new arrangement provides plenty of growth potential.
"The new code share also provides excellent options for Kiwis wanting to travel to the East Coast of the USA, with very convenient connection times to a range of Continental Airlines flights."
The code share will compliment existing arrangements with fellow Star Alliance partners United Airlines and US Airways and brings access to parts of the USA not previously available with current partners.
Sample schedule options:
| Auckland - New York | New York - Auckland | ||
| NZ8 Auckland - San Francisco | 1930/1245 | New York - Los Angeles | 1815/2125 |
| San Francisco - New York | 1520/2345 | NZ5 Los Angeles - Auckland | 2345/0740+2 |
| Auckland - Houston | Houston - Auckland | ||
| NZ6 Auckland - Los Angeles | 1715/1015 | Houston - Los Angeles | 1910/2040 |
| Los Angeles - Houston | 1230/1750 | NZ5 Los Angeles - Auckland | 2345/0740+2 |
Ends
Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 9 336 2761
NOTE: The content of all Air New Zealand media releases are accurate at the time of issue, as stated at the top of each release. For updates on any changes, please contact Air New Zealand.
Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries.
For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com.
