Air New Zealand is expanding its schedule of flights to China from New Zealand in a context of “very high demand” following the reopening of the country to international voyages.
After adding a third weekly flight in early January, service between Auckland (AKL) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG) will increase to 4X WEEKLY as of February 4.
The move will expand the route’s capacity from approximately 1,800 bi-directional weekly seats to over 2,400.
Leanne Geraghty, Head of Customer and Sales at Air New Zealand, said: We are seeing very strong demand in January for our flights to China. Most of the flights are full or nearly full.”
China has abandoned quarantine requirements for arriving passengers effective January 8, after three years of strict COVID-19 restrictions. Beijing has also resumed granting visas to foreign nationals and passports to its own citizens, as well as lifting restrictions on international flights.
Before the pandemic, Air New Zealand flew direct from Auckland to Shanghai on a daily basis. However, following the original itinerary interruption in February 2020, a limited passenger service has been in place since June 2020.