Air New Zealand, tapping the burgeoning Chinese tourist market
and strong interest by New Zealanders in the Olympic Games in
Beijing next year, will start flying to Beijing from July 18 next
year, ahead of the Olympic Games.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe announced the new
service on Thursday, the Dominion Post daily reported.
The service, subject to all necessary Chinese regulatory and
operating approvals, would operate out of New Zealand's largest
city of Auckland on Wednesday and Friday and out of Beijing on
Thursday and Saturday using the airline's new Boeing 777-200ER
aircraft.
Fyfe said the new service would build on the success of the
airline's Auckland-Shanghai service, launched in November 2006.
He added that Chinese visitor numbers to New Zealand were
booming, with growth of about 14 percent a year.
The new service was part of the airline's push to expand its
presence in China, and was expected to generate a high level of
interest, he said.
To provide sufficient capacity for the Beijing flights, the
airline will cut its Auckland Shanghai service to three times a
week until November 2008.
Fyfe said from November next year the airline planned to operate
five services a week to Shanghai, plus the two Beijing flights.
Fyfe expected strong demand from New Zealanders as it coincided
with the Beijing Olympics which run from Aug. 8-24.
(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2007)
