Air New Zealand Wants To Resume London Flights, But How?

It looks like Air New Zealand is hoping to once again resume flights to London, after completely discontinuing service to Europe in 2020. However, as of now there are more questions than answers, and this is far from a sure bet.

Air New Zealand requests London airport slots

@IshrionA reports on how Air New Zealand has requested daily slots for London Heathrow Airport (LHR), but was denied. However, the airline was able to secure daily slots for London Gatwick Airport (LGW), for service that could start as early as July 2025.

Now, it’s worth emphasizing that just because these slots have been requested, doesn’t actually mean the service will launch. However, it suggests that the airline is at least seriously considering such a flight, as airlines aren’t in the business of requesting slots for airports they have no intention of flying to.

Like so many airlines, Air New Zealand has been dealing with a shortage of aircraft, as the carrier’s new Boeing 787s haven’t been delivered on-time. However, the airline is expected to finally get some new Dreamliners in 2025.

London is around 11,400 miles from Auckland (AKL), so this service couldn’t be operated nonstop. Instead it would need to be operated via an intermedia point. Up until 2020, Air New Zealand flew to London via Los Angeles (LAX), which was a fun fifth freedom flight. Going back even further than that, up until 2013, the airline operated to London via Hong Kong (HKG), which was also a fifth freedom flight.

Funny enough, Air New Zealand actually sold its Heathrow slots back in 2020, for $27 million. It remains to be seen via which airport Air New Zealand would operate such a service next. In recent years, the carrier’s focus has been on offering ultra long haul service to the United States, including flights between Auckland and New York.

Is there merit to Air New Zealand returning to London?

I kind of struggle to see why Air New Zealand would try flying to London on its own metal yet again, especially after previous failures. These kinds of markets where nonstop flights aren’t possible are just really tough competitively:

• There are a countless number of well regarded airlines offering one-stop service between New Zealand and the United Kingdom, from Cathay Pacific, to Emirates, to Qatar Airways, to Singapore Airlines, and many more
• While Air New Zealand could operate a fifth freedom service as part of that, it’s hard to command decent yields on those flights, given other carriers’ more dominant market positions, lack of frequencies, etc.
• Never mind that this doesn’t seem like the best allocation of resources, given that Air New Zealand has a perpetual aircraft shortage

Now, some might point out that Qantas can make London service work, so why can’t Air New Zealand? Qantas is in a totally different position:

• Qantas can fly nonstop from Australia to London, thanks to its Perth to London route; Air New Zealand couldn’t operate such a route
• Qantas otherwise serves London via Singapore, with the benefit being that the airline has service from a handful of cities in Australia that all feed onto that Singapore to London flight
• Qantas and Emirates also have a close partnership, which creates a compelling overall schedule between the UK and Australia
• Qantas will eventually fly nonstop from Sydney and Melbourne to London, thanks to its Project Sunrise A350-1000s; however, Air New Zealand couldn’t do something similar, as New Zealand is just a bit too far

Bottom line

Air New Zealand is seemingly considering a return to London, as the airline was rejected for slots at Heathrow, but approved for slots at Gatwick. We’ll see if this service actually ends up starting, but clearly the airline is considering this.

In the past, Air New Zealand has flown to London via Hong Kong and Los Angeles. It remains to be seen how the airline would try to make the service happen this time around. However, I’m skeptical as to how this could be profitable.

What do you make of the prospect of Air New Zealand returning to London?