Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines welcome the New Zealand Ministry of Transport’s decision to extend authorization of their joint venture alliance.
The renewed New Zealand regulatory approval is the final step in enabling the two flag carriers to extend their alliance for a further five years until March 2024.
Air New Zealand Chief Strategy, Networks and Alliances Officer, Nick Judd, says that the approval reaffirms the airline’s alliance strategy.
“Partnerships such as this have been key to successfully growing Air New Zealand’s international network and delivering important benefits to our customers. Singapore Airlines has been a strong alliance partner and we are excited at the opportunities the re-authorization provides our two airlines,” said Mr. Judd.
Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President Marketing Planning, Mr Tan Kai Ping said, “The decision to re-authorize the alliance reinforces the benefits it has delivered to the New Zealand market in its first four years. We look forward to continue working closely with our alliance partner Air New Zealand, to provide even more travel options for our customers.”
Since the launch of the alliance in January 2015, the two airlines have increased flight frequency on routes between New Zealand and Singapore, providing travelers with greater choice and convenience. This included a new Wellington-Singapore service via Australia in 2016, along with increased peak season services to Christchurch.
The alliance has increased seat capacity by more than 25 percent between New Zealand and Singapore. The carriers will be launching a third daily service between Auckland and Singapore on 28 October 2018, boosting capacity by 40 percent on the route, with more than 165,000 additional seats annually. It will also shorten connection times and improve connectivity to destinations in Europe, India and Southeast Asia through the Singapore hub.
During peak months, the airlines will jointly operate a total of 35 return services a week between New Zealand and Singapore, including services from Wellington and Christchurch.
Air New Zealand has been working steadily to strengthen its focus on the Indian market by building its team to execute sales strategies, grow the airline’s market share in the country and support the alliance with Singapore Airlines. It had also signed on Global Destinations as its India Global Sales Agent (GSA) in October 2016. Reiterating its focus on the India market, the airline hired India-based Sales Managers DhrutiToprani and Deblina Dasgupta who come with vast and rich experience of working across the aviation and travel/tourism sector. They are working closely with Singapore-based Aaron Gilden, the Sales Manager for Emerging Markets and is responsible for management of the GSAs in India, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.
