First Direct Flight From NYC To New Zealand Coming Soon

As the country prepares to reopen to American travelers, the first-ever nonstop flight between New Zealand and New York is set to launch. The new flight will take off in September 2022, shortly after New Zealand reopens for the first time in two years.

Nonstop flight between New Zealand and NYC

Travel between New York City and New Zealand has always been somewhat of a trial. The extra-long flight has always been prolonged by a stopover on the way. Due to this, journey times were averaging around a grueling 30 hours. However, as spring in the southern hemisphere begins in September, the trip will be a lot easier.

From September 17, Air New Zealand is launching its first direct flights between John F. Kennedy International Airport in NYC and Auckland International Airport. What difference will this make in terms of flight times? Quite a bit.

NYC to New Zealand flight times

The new flights traveling northbound from Auckland are set to depart at 7:40 pm and will take around 16 hours to reach NYC. The southbound flight from JFK will give passengers around 17 hours and 35 minutes in the air, due to the prevailing wind.

Flights will depart from NYC at 9:55 pm local time and will arrive in New Zealand at 7:30 am. This will make it two days later with Auckland 17 hours ahead of New York in the different time zone. Meanwhile, flights will leave on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays onboard Air New Zealand’s spacious Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

About the new service

Originally, the new service was set to launch in October 2019 but was delayed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. When the new nonstop flight launches in September, this will be four months after New Zealand reopened to American visitors in May.

Meanwhile, New York City will be the sixth US airport served by the airline. Currently, flights are available to Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Honolulu and Houston.

How can you handle the long-haul flight?

USA Today quotes Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran in a statement on Tuesday, saying in the six years leading up to COVID, US visitor numbers to the country doubled. For this reason, they expect their much-awaited nonstop service to be incredibly strong year-round.

“To ensure customers arrive in New York feeling refreshed, we’ve put a lot of thought into the onboard experience and teams are working around the clock to make sure this a great flying experience,” Foran added.

Meanwhile, passengers have a choice of business, premium and premium economy seats, as well as the SkyCouch option. The latter option allows passengers to book a row of three seats that transforms into a lie-down bed. Just by removing the armrests, and covering the footwell, it makes a fairly comfortable bed. However, the price for that upgrade starts at around US$400 (NZ$598).

Passengers can enjoy free snacks and drinks to keep them going between meal services in every cabin. On top of this, each seat has its own entertainment unit.

While the new flight will be shorter than previously, the nonstop NYC to Auckland service is still the fourth-longest commercial flight in the world. For those with the stamina, the new nonstop flights are now available on Air New Zealand’s website. Tickets start from US$691 (NZ$993) one-way from NYC to Auckland. The return flight costs US$686 (NZ$986).