Non-stop Auckland-Chicago services to debut 30 November 2018.
Air New Zealand has just announced thrice weekly flights from Auckland to Chicago effective from the end of November, with the new service expanding the joint venture the airline has with United Airlines.
At the same time United Airlines has announced an extension of its seasonal service between San Francisco and Auckland to a year-round operation from April 2019.
NZ will operate its 787-9 aircraft on the new Chicago route, with ceo Christopher Luxon saying the new route is expected to contribute about $70 million annually to the New Zealand economy.
Flight time from Auckland to Chicago is about 15 hours, with the return service taking about 16 hours. Air NZ will codeshare on about 100 United Airlines routes across the USA for convenient connections to Auckland via ORD.
More details in today’s issue of Travel Daily.