Air New Zealand (Air NZ) has announced it will launch direct flights between Auckland and Buenos Aires, Argentina - the airline’s first ever scheduled service to South America. The new route will commence in December 2015 and will be operated on a year-round basis on a three times weekly schedule using a Boeing 777-200.
Air NZ’s chief executive officer, Christopher Luxon, says the new destination, the airline’s 28th international port, opens up an exciting new world for travellers from both New Zealand and Australia. The service will also enable Argentineans to travel directly to New Zealand and then on to Australia on Air New Zealand’s extensive trans-Tasman network, or to Singapore and South East Asia.
“South America was once the domain of the intrepid explorer, but the direct service to Buenos Aires, with a flight time of around 12 hours, means a quick and action packed getaway is now a reality,” he said. “Buenos Aires is the most popular tourist city in South America and is a perfect stepping stone for those who then want to explore the country, or continent, further.”
Air NZ will enter into a codeshare agreement with Aerolíneas Argentinas, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals, which will see Aerolíneas Argentinas’ code return to the South Pacific market on the new route and on key connecting Trans-Tasman services, and Air New Zealand will Add its ‘NZ’ code onto Aerolíneas Argentinas’ services to Brazil.
“We are particularly excited that Aerolíneas Argentinas has agreed to support the service with codeshare, which we expect to help further stimulate tourism to New Zealand from this rugby loving nation,” added Luxon.
Tourism New Zealand chief executive officer, Kevin Bowler, said the announcement is welcome news, at a time when the organisation has made a commitment to significantly invest in the Latin American market, including the establishment of an office in South America, one year ago this month.
“We’ve made some great progress in laying the foundations, but our success in attracting more South American visitors to New Zealand relies heavily on air linkages and we look forward to working in a partnership with Air New Zealand in the coming months to build in-bound demand for the new service,” he explained.
Air NZ has clearly defined aspirations for growth in the Pacific Rim. Its flights to Singapore commence next month and this new route to Buenos Aires will further strengthen its network in this area. The airline hopes to open reservations on the new service around March 2015, subject to obtaining necessary approvals.
This will be only the second non-stop flight between New Zealand and South America alongside the daily LAN Airlines link between Santiago and Auckland and will represent the return of services in the Auckland – Buenos Aires market, a city pair previously served by Aerolineas Argentinas up until June 2012.
An estimated 128,000 passengers flew between New Zealand and destinations across South America in 2013, up 44.5 per cent on the previous year, thanks mainly to an increase in the frequency of the LAN Airlines service from Santiago, which almost doubled flows to and from Chile compared to 2012.
Our analysis highlights the largest markets between New Zealand and South America in 2013. It is no surprise that Chile is the largest country market in South America thanks to its current non-stop link, holding a 63.8 per cent share. However, both Brazil (17.5 per cent) and Argentina (10.3 per cent) have notable flows through one or two stop connectivity.
Buenos Aires was the third largest O&D destination in South America from/to New Zealand in 2013 with an estimated 10,000 bi-directional passengers. This is down around a third on the previous year when AerolIneas Argentinas was active on the Auckland – Buenos Aires city pair.
Data provided by 
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