Air New Zealand is welcoming more Asian passengers onboard, with strongest growth seen in Singapore and Indonesia. The upward trend reflects destination New Zealand’s growing visitor arrivals from Asia, noted Imogen Thornton, Air New Zealand’s head of South and South East Asia.
The airline recorded an increase of more than 40 per cent in Singapore-originating traffic on its Singapore-Auckland flights in 2024 over 2023. Passenger numbers out of all South and South-east Asian markets travelling on the Singapore-Auckland service was up three per cent for the same period.
Passenger numbers out of Indonesia spiked over 250 per cent following Air New Zealand’s increased flight frequency out of Bali Denpasar’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. Once a seasonal service, the Auckland-Denpasar flight was turned into a year-round service last year.
Thornton said the airline is particularly hopeful about using the Auckland-Denpasar service to get more travellers from across South-east Asia.
“It is also a popular transit point with Singaporeans who choose to have a few days in Bali on their way down to New Zealand,” she told TTG Asia.
As Indian arrivals to New Zealand stabilise after the post-pandemic VFR surge, showing a slight two per cent decline in 2024 over 2023, Air New Zealand is “working hard” with trade partners to keep leisure travel interest high.
“We’ve seen lots of excitement at TRENZ 2025 from Indian buyers, which makes us optimistic about what lies ahead,” she added.
Trade partnerships play a big part in the airline’s business outreach in Asia, although not all involve an MoU signing. Thornton shared that efforts largely involve marketing to raise destination awareness and convey itinerary ideas as well as providing fare deals to travel agency partners to help elevate demand.
Asian passengers benefit from Air New Zealand’s extensive domestic network. It flies to 20 different places around the country, with good connections out of Auckland Airport.
“We know that for many travellers out of Asia, their trip to New Zealand is likely a bucket list holiday. They want to cover both the North and South Island. So, we do see a high uptake of our services from Auckland Airport down to Queenstown or Christchurch. Travellers will then explore onwards,” she said.
Looking ahead, Thornton said Asian travellers could expect a refreshed flight experience once the airline’s retrofitted Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner project progresses into the region.
The first retrofitted Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is scheduled to depart from Auckland to Australia’s Brisbane on May 19. Additional retrofitted aircraft will be introduced on San Francisco (the US), Vancouver (Canada), and Asian routes – with timelines for these yet to be established.
It features new products across Business Premier, Business Premier Luxe, Premium Economy, and Economy seat classes. Materials, colours, and textures are selected to create a cabin environment that is warm, welcoming and distinctly New Zealand, from soft, breathable fabrics that help regulate temperature to carefully designed lighting that minimises disruption.
It is worth noting that the updated Business Premier seats are given a new angle and layout, as well as a sliding privacy screen. Additionally, travellers have the option of taking the all-new Business Premier Luxe product, which are located in the front four seats of the Business Premier cabin. These come with spacious seating area with an ottoman doubling as a guest seat, room for two to dine with an extra-large tray table, a larger bed with unrestricted space at the end, and a full closing door.
The inflight entertainment system is also enhanced with larger 4K HD inflight entertainment screens throughout the aircraft and Bluetooth audio connectivity, among other fresh features.
