Air NZ and United Airlines to Revenue Share on NZ-USA Routes

11 March 2016

Air New Zealand and United Airlines to Revenue Share on New Zealand-USA Routes

Air New Zealand and United Airlines have entered into a revenue sharing agreement, further deepening the longstanding alliance between the two airlines.

Under the revenue sharing alliance the carriers will work together to promote and sell both airlines’ services between New Zealand and mainland USA, including domestic feeder services in both New Zealand and the United States, increasing the flight options available to customers.

The revenue share agreement will come into effect when United launches its new San Francisco – Auckland service on 1 July this year. The alliance further strengthens Air New Zealand’s network of strong Pacific Rim revenue share partners which includes Virgin Australia, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Air China.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon says both the airline and New Zealand’s economy stand to benefit significantly from the alliance.

“The United States is New Zealand’s third largest tourism source market, contributing almost a billion dollars to our economy in the past financial year.”

“We know this is just the tip of the iceberg though, with around 30 million Americans actively considering New Zealand as a holiday destination.”

“To have a strong home market carrier like United Airlines working with us to grow this market through its extensive sales and distribution channels in the U.S. will provide a significant boost to inbound tourism.”

United Airlines Vice Chairman and Chief Revenue Officer Jim Compton says United is very excited about its agreement with Air New Zealand and the benefits it brings to customers in the U.S. and New Zealand.

“Together, United and Air New Zealand will offer customers more seamless connections between New Zealand and cities across the U.S. than any of our competitors.”

Air New Zealand and United have worked together since 2001 to provide benefits to customers including coordinating closely on codesharing, frequent flyer programmes and distribution. The revenue share agreement will deepen this cooperation.

Air New Zealand currently codeshares with United on its extensive network in domestic USA and to international destinations including Australia and London. Likewise, United codeshares on Air New Zealand’s network in domestic New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands and to the USA.

Subject to United Airlines obtaining government approval, it will begin operating a three-times-weekly 787-8 Dreamliner service between San Francisco and Auckland in July, moving to daily services operated by a larger 787-9 aircraft in November 2016.

Air New Zealand currently operates direct to five North American ports with daily services from Auckland to San Francisco, double daily services to Los Angeles, four services per week to Vancouver and Honolulu, and five services per week from Auckland to Houston, increasing to daily flights during the December/January peak period.

Once United begins operating its Auckland-San Francisco flights the airlines will operate complementary services on the route, with United’s flights arriving into San Francisco in the early morning and Air New Zealand’s flights arriving around midday.

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