Air New Zealand and ANA Launch new Partnership

Air New Zealand and All Nippon Airways (ANA) will establish a closer partnership from the start of the Northern Summer 2012 schedules on March 25, 2012 providing travellers on both airlines with improved access to destinations in Japan and New Zealand. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Rob Fyfe, Chief Executive Officer, Air New Zealand and Shinichiro Ito, President and Chief Executive Officer, ANA at last week’s Star Alliance CEO meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia coinciding with Ethiopian Airlines’ entry into the global grouping.

The new partnership will, subject to regulatory approval, give Air New Zealand passengers easy access beyond the gateways of Tokyo (Narita) and Osaka (Kansai) on the more than 700 flights a day to 48 domestic destinations operated by ANA. Meanwhile, ANA customers will have access to destinations in New Zealand and the Australasian region beyond the gateway of Auckland, thanks to Air New Zealand’s network. The arrangement will also open up Japan as a corridor for New Zealanders travelling to Europe and other Asian destinations - ANA flies to the four European cities of London, Paris, Munich and Frankfurt as well as a range of Asian destinations including China, India, and Korea.

“While Japan has been a very important destination for us for three decades, this new relationship will help further extend our reach both within Japan and to points beyond,” said Christopher Luxon, Group General Manager International Airline, Air New Zealand. “We have a clear strategy to develop strong alliances to support our core business and this new ANA codeshare is a good example of putting that strategy into action.”

To enhance connectivity between the carriers Air New Zealand will move its Narita airport base to Terminal 1 South from March 25, 2012 placing it alongside other Star Alliance carriers and giving customers access to modern lounge facilities operated by ANA and smooth transit to connecting flights operated by ANA and other Star Alliance partners.

“This partnership will add more value to our network, which will now include New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands as a choice for our customers,” said Keisuke Okada, Executive Vice President of Alliance, ANA. “ANA is also willing to promote New Zealand as a leisure destination within the Japanese market and we look forward to working together to continue to grow Japanese outbound passenger numbers to New Zealand.”