American Airlines’ Los Angeles service is returning to Auckland for the summer with seasonal flights to LAX.

The Hollywood direct route launches on December 21 and will be operating daily. LA direct will be the second Auckland based service from American Airlines since Covid, joining the US carrier’s Dallas Fort Worth route which recommenced late last year.

Connecting Auckland and California between peak summer months, until March 3, the airline said it was part of a focus on growing its Asia-Pacific footprint.

AA was assigning an 787-9 aircraft to keep the route open during the peak summer travel season.

The airline’s VP of operations and commercial, Kyle Mabry said the new addition to the AA roster would allow customers to explore new destinations. That would include connecting Kiwis to Mexico and continental US or American travellers into New Zealand.

“The response we had from the New Zealand public when we returned to shores last year was overwhelmingly positive,” said Mabry.

They were working closely with Auckland Airport to add the new link to the network.

Auckland Airport’s chief customer officer, Scott Tasker, said they looked forward to seeing American Airlines aircraft return from LAX.

While it will offer Kiwis travel opportunities into West Coast America, New Zealand continues to rank highly as a summer travel destination.

“The new flights are also projected to bring in $35 million of additional tourism spend into the New Zealand economy,” said Tasker.

The Americans are coming - and so are cheaper airfares

American airlines first launched Auckland to LA direct in 2016 but was halted four years later by the 2020 pandemic.

American is the latest of four airlines to reopen links between LAX and New Zealand. From October 28, Air New Zealand’s daily service to Los Angeles, NZ4, will be joined by Delta Airlines who are launching their first ever airlink between the cities.

United Airlines, codeshare partner with Air NZ, is launching its own seasonal services to New Zealand this summer, increasing the number of inbound aircraft from LA.

Bringing additional 787 aircraft to Auckland from October 28, United will also be adding a South Island direct service to Christchurch from December 1.

Bringing US tourists directly into Canterbury three times a week, the service will add more plane seats across the Pacific.

The return of more aircraft and carriers into New Zealand are predicted to force down fares between the US, after a period of historic highs.

Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson said the new services would “supercharge tourism value to New Zealand.”

He predicted that the buoyant US travel market would not only benefit the tourism economy but bring better value to New Zealanders, as South Islanders would be only one flight away from LA.

Auckland Airport earlier predicted that the increased interest in New Zealand as a destination from US carriers would only be a good thing for Kiwis wishing to head overseas.

“We’re excited about the opportunities this will create for New Zealand’s tourism industry and the wider economy, along with the additional seat capacity providing more choice and competition for travellers,” Scott Tasker of Auckland Airport told the Herald.

Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/