Overview
Taking a bite out of the Big Apple will soon become a lot easier for Kiwi travellers as Air New Zealand prepares to launch a non-stop service to New York.
From October 2020, the carrier will fly between Auckland and New York's Newark Liberty International Airport three times weekly, year-round, using its latest configuration Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
The 14,178 kilometre journey will be the carrier's longest route, and the fifth longest in the world by distance. Passengers will have plenty of time to plan their visit or perhaps catch some zs before landing in the city that never sleeps — the long haul clocks in at 15 hours 40 minutes northbound and 17 hours 40 minutes southbound.
Air New Zealand is the latest carrier to squash the dreaded stopover. Singapore Airlines currently holds the record for the world's longest flight without stopovers with its 15,322-kilometre Singapore-to-New York route — a whopping 19 hours of airtime. Though that record might not last long if Aussie carrier Qantas has anything to do with it. The airline recently piloted its first ultra long-haul research flight from New York to Sydney — the first flight by a commercial airline to ever make the huge 19.5-hour journey.
On top of the new non-stop route, the airline has decided to can its flagship Los Angeles to London route from October 2020.
Air New Zealand's non-stop Auckland-to-New York service will go on sale soon.