Lake Pukaki in New Zealand — Credit: Thibaut Monot
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has joined forces with Air New Zealand to boost existing capacity between Singapore and New Zealand by up to 30 per cent.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, SIA will operate the Airbus A380 to New Zealand for the first time on Singapore-Auckland route, gradually phasing out the existing daily service operated with the Boeing 777-300ER.
Air New Zealand will launch daily services between Auckland and Singapore using newly refitted B777-200ER aircraft. It takes over the five flights SIA runs and will add two more weekly flights for a daily frequency.
Meanwhile, SIA’s daily Singapore-Christchurch service will continue.
Both airlines will also codeshare on flights within SIA’s network to the UK, Europe, South-east Asia and Africa as well as SilkAir’s destinations.
Clifford Neo, managing director of Dynasty Travel, said the introduction of additional servicees would give his company a greater choice of flight connections to meet demand. The number of Singaporeans heading to New Zealand doubled in 2013 as compared to 2012.
“We have seen the full recovery and strong demand for leisure travel in 2013 for New Zealand coming back aftermath the earthquake that hit Christchurch in 2011. The movie The Hobbit also increased awareness of the beautiful and serene sights in New Zealand,” he said.
Singling out the North and South Islands in New Zealand as popular spots for tourism, Neo said the travellers to those destinations primarily comprise families with older children and especially with honeymoon couples and seniors above 55 years old.
