By the end of December, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines will all be operating to Auckland Airport (AKL) in New Zealand from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which AKL points to as evidence of robust demand to North America.

United has kicked off northern hemisphere seasonal winter service from LAX, flying 3X-weekly in November followed by 4X-weekly through the rest of the season. The service will be operated with a Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

That launch followed Delta in late October starting its first-ever scheduled service to New Zealand with year-round flights to AKL from LAX. Delta’s service on the 5,659-nm route will be flown daily through March 2024 using an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, followed by 3X-weekly service through October 2024.

Starting Dec. 22, 2023 to March 3, 2024, American will offer daily service between LAX and AKL using a Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

American already operates daily seasonal service between its Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport base and AKL. United already offers daily service to AKL from San Francisco International Airport. Air New Zealand also operates between AKL and LAX.

AKL says in a statement there will be 26% more capacity on North America routes compared to before the pandemic.

Auckland Airport Chief Customer Officer Scott Tasker notes: “If we look through to January, we’ve got 27 more flights per week to North American destinations than we had back in January 2020.

That really signals the level of demand out there to visit and enjoy what’s on offer in New Zealand ... This [southern hemisphere] summer we’ll have seven airlines flying nonstop to eight North American cities.”

Qantas and Air New Zealand are both operating from AKL to New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. Air New Zealand serves seven North American destinations, including Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

Air Canada also operates to AKL from YVR. Hawaiian Airlines flies to AKL from Honolulu.