Tourism to get a boost from Air NZ San Francisco service

CHRISTCHURCH - Air New Zealand's increase in seats on its San Francisco-Auckland route will likely give New Zealand tourism a welcome boost in the US market at a time it is feeling the squeeze from the strong local currency.

Air NZ yesterday said a Boeing 747-400 aircraft refitted with it's much-hyped Business Premier and Pacific Premium Economy seating would be introduced on its three day a week San Francisco route from August 7.

The airline will move to a six day a week San Francisco service using its new Boeing 777-200 aircraft in November increasing the number of seats on the route by 62 per cent.

Kirk Demeter, president of award-winning US travel company Down Under Answers, told NZPA the extra capacity and other initiatives by the airline would benefit tourism here.

"I think a couple of things that Air New Zealand are doing are helping -- obviously the new route structure, non-stop flights out of San Francisco which avoids the LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) issues that every body seems to have and also opening up Christchurch as a gateway are definitely going to drive some more tourism."

Christchurch and Canterbury have enjoyed Tourism Industry Association chief executive Fiona Luhrs described as "an absolute boomer of a season" since the new service began last year -- at a time other regions are reporting a decline in spending, blamed on the strength of the kiwi.

Mr Demeter also said Air NZ's ongoing investment in aircraft was also a positive factor.

"When you have a long haul flight, it immediately throws fear into people, especially those travelling with kids and if you can make it as comfortable as possible that can only be good their new configurations look great."

He also said the simplification of Air New Zealand's fare structure was a big plus. Those factors combined were making making New Zealand a lot more of an attainable destination in the US market in comparison to others.

Air NZ general manager sales marketing and alliances Norm Thompson told NZPA the airline's research suggested US customers interested in travelling to New Zealand were prepared to pay a premium to make the long journey in comfort.

Earlier this week, Hanne Ruhnau of Hawaii based company Pacific For Less told NZPA her company was looking to add New Zealand to its list of destinations after leaving it off for a couple of years. It was coming back to New Zealand largely because of better airfares and services being offered by Air NZ.

- NZPA