Why Air New Zealand is flying from Auckland to Taipei in Taiwan

The Taipei 101 skyscraper dominates the city of with a population of nearly three million. Photo / 123RF

Air New Zealand says new non-stop flights between Auckland and Taipei will help boost tourism from Taiwan and provide more incentive for Kiwis to fly there.

The airline will fly up to five times a week from November using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Direct flight time is about 11 hours and standard return economy fares on Air New Zealand's website today for that month are around $1530, although airlines will usually launch new routes with promotional deals.

At present Taiwan's China Airlines flies to Auckland and Christchurch but via Brisbane and Melbourne.

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon said the new service was significantly quicker and more convenient than current indirect options.

About 36,000 visitors a year from Taiwan already visited New Zealand.

''We're confident a direct link will grow numbers further,'' he said

''It's part of deepening that Pacific Rim strategy and those deep connections into Asia - Taipei is a really fantastic place, it's a wealthy city.''

Auckland Airport's general manager aeronautical commercial, Scott Tasker, said the announcement was great news for New Zealand and would add 95,000 seats to the route and inject $80 million annually into the New Zealand economy.

The new service will also provide opportunities for trade, with the addition of 4,368 tonnes of air cargo capacity between New Zealand and Taiwan annually. In 2017 the key exports to Taiwan were strawberries, avocados and dairy products.

The new route has also been welcomed by Flight Centre whose NZ general product manager Sean Berenson said there had been strong growth in the number of New Zealanders visiting Taiwan already.

''We envisage the route to be particularly popular with our VFR (visiting friends and family) customers and business travellers looking for a quicker and more convenient route into the destination,'' he said.

''In the leisure travel space it will be an interesting option for those in search of a new Asian destination to explore.''

The flights between are Auckland and Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport, with NZ77 departing Auckland at 10.35am and arriving in Taipei at 4.50pm local time. NZ78 will depart Taipei at 6.30pm local time, arriving in Auckland at 10.20am the next day.

Today's announcement comes after the airline launched direct services to Houston and Buenos Aires in December 2015 and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in June 2016.