Air New Zealand launches route to Bali from Auckland Airport

On 19 June, Air New Zealand launched its first route to South East Asia since it dropped flights to Singapore in 2006. The Star Alliance airline now operates from its Auckland (AKL) hub to Denpasar (DPS) on Bali in Indonesia. The airline has operated the route in the past, between 1990 and 1997, and flights now operate seasonally until 13 October; however, the airline already at the announcement flagged the possibility of the route becoming a year-round operation subject to demand. The operations are scheduled twice a week with 228-seat 767-300ER aircraft. The leisure route is notably a contrast from the airline’s focus on islands in the South Pacific. Air New Zealand’s outgoing CEO Rob Fyfe commented the new route: “Our flight time of eight and a half hours is a significant improvement on the indirect services offered by competitors that can involve long layovers and a total journey time of at least 14 and sometimes more than 24 hours.”