Air New Zealand to fly direct to Vancouver

Group General Manager International Airline Ed Sims says Canada has always been an extremely popular destination for New Zealanders.

"In turn, Canadians love New Zealand and come here in significant numbers every year. Starting this service will significantly grow tourism numbers between the two countries. Already each year around 46,000 Canadians visit New Zealand and 16,000 Kiwis visit Canada, even before a direct flight!" Mr Sims says.

The services will initially operate three times a week between November and March to coincide with the peak travel season between the two destinations, as Canadians escape a white winter and Kiwi ski fanatics take advantage of some of the best slopes, scenery, culture and nightlife in the world.

"Vancouver is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city that provides a convenient gateway to popular destinations like Whistler, Calgary and the Canadian Rockies," says Mr Sims.

Mr Sims says the new service is a significant undertaking for Air New Zealand. "We are committing aircraft, sales teams and considerable marketing spend to making this a profitable addition to our network."

At any one time, the airline has more than 20 routes under consideration as part of its long-term strategy to grow the airline.

"We are committed to creating at least one new long haul international destination each year. Our previous two - San Francisco and Shanghai - have been hugely popular with customers and bookings on both routes continuing to exceed expectations. We are sure the new Vancouver service will be similarly successful."

To reach Vancouver today from New Zealand, customers travel via Honolulu, Los Angeles or San Francisco. With a flight time of approximately 13 hours 45 minutes from New Zealand, the new non-stop service using Air New Zealand's new Boeing 777-200ER aircraft will shave hours of transit time from customers' travel itineraries.

For Australian customers, the new service provides a convenient one-stop offering from all eastern seaboard ports that Air New Zealand serves and eliminates the challenges of a US transit-stop as is currently the case with all other carriers. It will become the quickest way to Vancouver from both Melbourne and Adelaide.

"This non-stop flight is ideally suited to the new $1.7 billion 777 fleet in which Air New Zealand has invested in the past 18 months," says Mr Sims.

Flight schedules between Auckland and Vancouver have been designed to meet the needs of both business and leisure travellers, with early evening departure times. Star Alliance partner Air Canada will also be code sharing on the service, which will depart Auckland on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The new destination was launched today at a specially-themed breakfast at Air New Zealand headquarters in Auckland.

Flights to Vancouver will begin on Friday 2 November 2007 and run through until Friday 28 March 2008. Tickets are available from today, with prices starting (ex Auckland) from $2289 (excluding airport taxes).

Air New Zealand will operate the following schedule to Vancouver, subject to timeslot, capacity and regulatory approvals:

*Note - due to time difference, time of arrival in New Zealand is two days later than departure date.

ENDS

Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs

For more information:

Tracey Palmer
Corporate Communications Manager
Air New Zealand
Tel 09 336 3179
021 628 129
Email tracey.palmer@airnz.co.nz

NOTE: The content of all Air New Zealand media releases are accurate at the time of issue, as stated at the top of each release. For updates on any changes, please contact Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, Brussels Airlines and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,500 daily flights to 1,071 airports in 171 countries.

For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com.