Regional Round-Up
China and New Zealand strengthen relationship with strategic alliance
December 1st 2014
Air China and Air New Zealand (ANZ) have signed a Statement of Intent to form a strategic alliance on services between China and New Zealand that is scheduled to begin in the new year, improving access for the more than half a million Chinese tourists New Zealand expects to visit the country by 2020. Read More »
Under the proposed alliance, Air China would launch a daily Beijing – Auckland service to complement ANZ’s existing daily Shanghai – Auckland flights. “New Zealand is one of the most important markets for outbound travel from China and Air China is confident about the promising future of this market, particularly considering the airline’s close ties with Air New Zealand, an innovative airline full of vitality and dynamism,” said Air China chief executive officer (CEO) Song Zhiyong. ANZ CEO Christopher Luxon elaborated that “China remains a challenging market for us to operate to. Working with a strong, well-respected home market carrier like Air China will give us a huge opportunity to convert this potential growth, while jointly offering the additional capacity to support it.”
As Chinese visitor numbers to New Zealand doubled in the past four years, Mainland carriers added frequencies. China Southern offers double-daily B777/787 Guangzhou – Auckland services, while China Eastern Airlines will start a new seasonal Shanghai – Auckland B777-300ER service this month. The Chinese carriers’ market entry has effectively reduced Australia’s position as the traditional gateway for New Zealand. Government data shows that in 2006 more than 70% of Mainland China tourists entered the country via Australia. In the first nine months of 2014, Asian hubs dispatched 53% of Chinese visitors to New Zealand and Australian hubs accounted for the remaining 47%.
