Air New Zealand Prepares for New Competition from Qantas and Delta
Air New Zealand had the nonstop market between Auckland and New York all to itself for all of five months last year. Then, as a precursor to its own nonstop flights from Sydney, Qantas Airways announced plans to join it on the route amid a surge in longhaul travel demand in both Australia and New Zealand. The competition, however, does not appear to concern Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran. When asked in an interview earlier in January if the new Qantas route worried him, his response was: “Not particularly.” The same applied to Qantas partner American Airlines’ new nonstop to Auckland from Dallas-Fort Worth that began in October. “We’re expecting that,” Foran said. “We’re used to competition. It’s our home base. We’ll protect that and do what we need to, but I think it’s fair to say that we will see some new entrants come in.” It’s good that Air New Zealand is unconcerned and prepared for new competition, particularly from North America. Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein told staff last week that the carrier will launch a new Auckland nonstop from Los Angeles later this year as part of the recovery of its Asia-Pacific business; the route would mark the first time in the Atlanta-based carrier’s history that it has served New Zealand. The competitive changes are standard for the airline industry. Auckland Airport CEO Patrick Strange noted in October that there is “a lot more passenger demand than there [are] operating aircraft to fly them.” And, when demand outstrips capacity in an industry that abhors such an imbalance, airlines will add flights. That is, airlines that have both the aircraft and staff, which are no small orders in this resource-strained recovery. New Zealand is in the midst of a strong international travel rebound. The country only fully reopened its borders in August after more than two years of pandemic-related closures and restrictions. The response has been robust pent-up travel demand. That prompted Air New Zealand late last year to raise its profit outlook for the six months ending in December by as much as NZ$95m ($61m) to NZ$295-325m. “We’ve rebounded strongly,” Foran said, adding that this is true across its geographic segments, from domestic New Zealand to Australia and longhaul. “Customers are out in numbers, and they’re very keen to travel.”<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2023-01-18/star/air-new-zealand-prepares-for-new-competition-from-qantas-and-delta
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Air New Zealand Prepares for New Competition from Qantas and Delta
Air New Zealand had the nonstop market between Auckland and New York all to itself for all of five months last year. Then, as a precursor to its own nonstop flights from Sydney, Qantas Airways announced plans to join it on the route amid a surge in longhaul travel demand in both Australia and New Zealand. The competition, however, does not appear to concern Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran. When asked in an interview earlier in January if the new Qantas route worried him, his response was: “Not particularly.” The same applied to Qantas partner American Airlines’ new nonstop to Auckland from Dallas-Fort Worth that began in October. “We’re expecting that,” Foran said. “We’re used to competition. It’s our home base. We’ll protect that and do what we need to, but I think it’s fair to say that we will see some new entrants come in.” It’s good that Air New Zealand is unconcerned and prepared for new competition, particularly from North America. Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein told staff last week that the carrier will launch a new Auckland nonstop from Los Angeles later this year as part of the recovery of its Asia-Pacific business; the route would mark the first time in the Atlanta-based carrier’s history that it has served New Zealand. The competitive changes are standard for the airline industry. Auckland Airport CEO Patrick Strange noted in October that there is “a lot more passenger demand than there [are] operating aircraft to fly them.” And, when demand outstrips capacity in an industry that abhors such an imbalance, airlines will add flights. That is, airlines that have both the aircraft and staff, which are no small orders in this resource-strained recovery. New Zealand is in the midst of a strong international travel rebound. The country only fully reopened its borders in August after more than two years of pandemic-related closures and restrictions. The response has been robust pent-up travel demand. That prompted Air New Zealand late last year to raise its profit outlook for the six months ending in December by as much as NZ$95m ($61m) to NZ$295-325m. “We’ve rebounded strongly,” Foran said, adding that this is true across its geographic segments, from domestic New Zealand to Australia and longhaul. “Customers are out in numbers, and they’re very keen to travel.”<br/>
