Is Air New Zealand returning to London? Airline coy on frenzied speculation
Monday, 18 November 2024
The rumour mill has been in full swing over the weekend with speculation that Air New Zealand is looking at resuming flights to London.
The national carrier has reportedly lined up slots at London Gatwick, according to blog Ishrion Aviation.
It wrote on X/Twitter: “Air New Zealand attempts to relaunch flights to London. The airline requested a daily slot at London Heathrow (LHR), but unsurprisingly, didn’t receive it. Air New Zealand previously flew a fifth-freedom Los Angeles (LAX) to LHR. It’s unknown if they intend to restore this or use a different airport as a stopover.”
It then followed that up with: “When Heathrow fails, you go to Gatwick (LGW), probably. Air New Zealand has received slots at LGW Airport for daily service starting July 2025. No guarantees they actually launch flights though.”
The national carrier dropped its London route in October 2020, ending nearly 40 years of service. It was replaced by the Auckland to New York flight.
So is it true? The airline is keeping its cards close to its chest.
“We are constantly reviewing our network and we actively listen to the feedback we get from New Zealanders as to where they would love to fly,” a spokesperson told Stuff.
“It’s not uncommon for airlines to apply for slots in new airports as part of this network review process. London is one of those destinations New Zealand has a very special connection to and we continue to explore options.”
So it’s not a yes, but it’s also not a no.
Aviation blog One Mile At A Time reported that Air NZ gave up its Heathrow slot for a reported US$27 million, or just over NZ$46 million.
Editor Ben Schlappig said he “kind of struggles” to see why Air New Zealand would try flying to London again, citing competition as well as “this doesn’t seem like the best allocation of resources, given that Air New Zealand has a perpetual aircraft shortage”.
In the past the airline has operated to London via Hong Kong and Los Angeles but struggled to make the route profitable.
Aviation expert Irene King said the only way to make a point of difference is to offer a non-stop flight, but the technology is not there yet.
“That would have to be the ultimate objective, to really offer something absolutely, competitively different. And that’s what this is. A competitive alternative that very few other carriers could emulate, or even want to emulate,” King told Stuff.
“I can't see it until maybe 2030 or something like that.”
There is a lot of competition on one-stop flights from NZ, and the airline already has codeshare agreements with the likes of Singapore Airlines.
King speculated that in the short term the airline could offer a one-stop option via Asia, the Middle East or North America before eventually flying non-stop.
“If they are serious about going back into London, the technology will emerge that they can go direct. It's just really not there yet. So I'm not discounting that they're going to go back.
“The game changer would be non-stop.”
House of Travel chief executive David Coombes said the rumours of a resumption of London flights have been around for a while, “but only Air New Zealand knows for sure”.
“They understand what it takes to fly their own aircraft to London, so I suspect they’ll be using that experience to weigh up the best way to utilise their fleet and whether the route can be profitable,” said Coombes.
“What we do know is that Kiwi travellers always stand to benefit when airlines explore new routes and add capacity.”
He added that House of Travel is seeing “strong interest” in long-haul bookings to the UK in 2025.
“Many of our customers use London as an entry city before exploring the rest of Europe.”