AIRLINE NEWS
Qatar Airways is once again named the World’s Best Airline at the 2025 Skytrax World Airline Awards, with Singapore Airlines ranked 2nd and Cathay Pacific in 3rd place. The awards are conducted by Skytrax, one of our industry authorities on airline ratings. Unlike many airline awards you read about, airlines are not permitted to pay to enter this Skytrax Airline Awards – it is voted by Travellers. The Top 10 was rounded out with 4. Emirates 5. ANA All Nippon 6. Turkish Airlines 7. Korean Airlines 8. Air France 9. Japan Airlines 10. Hainan Airlines. Our local airlines certainly received the ‘could do better’ school report with Qantas coming in at No. 14 and Air New Zealand at No. 24.
Air New Zealand has now received two of its renovated Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which feature the airline’s new cabin layout. There will be four by the end of August and seven of their 14 787s by the year’s end. Our team has seen the new fit-out and agrees that the new Business Class layout is a huge improvement for Air New Zealand. The stand-out Premium Economy Class seat has also received very positive feedback. You may get to try one of these new aircraft on the Auckland-Vancouver route, plus a couple of short-haul Tasman or Pacific routes.
Hamilton is back on the map with a couple of new airline options. Jetstar has now commenced non-stop flights from the Waikato to either Sydney (4x weekly) or the Gold Coast (3x weekly). From September, Air New Zealand will commence Airbus A320 jet services on the domestic route to Christchurch, replacing one ATR propeller aircraft flight five days a week. It’s been 25 years since jet aircraft domestic flights operated to Hamilton. As is always the case with these new services, Waikato and Bay of Plenty clients are encouraged to support these new services or risk losing them!
In further news from Air New Zealand, they will inaugurate seasonal, twice-weekly non-stop flights between Christchurch and Adelaide from October 25 until March 26.
Qantas has adjusted the way it distributes airfares through the Travel Agency network. They have introduced the NDC (Neutral Distribution Capability) system which now gives your ATPI Travel Consultants two ways to book Qantas flights. NDC simply allows the airline to target certain ATPI Travel clients (eg Travellers with Qantas Gold Frequent Flyer status) and present a more tailored offer, such as a targeted short duration promotional offer (eg double points or last minute discounted upgrades) or an ‘NDC special airfare’. The booking process differs for our Travel Consultants, and so our Team will certainly offer both the NDC fare as well as the traditional GDS offer directly from our system. For clients using our online booking tools Cytric or Serko Zeno, these systems will also be offering the dual airfares, NDC and Classic soon.
South American airline LATAM will discontinue its Auckland / Sydney / Auckland extension from its Santiago to Auckland flights from November. It has built up its non-stop network from Santiago to Sydney and Melbourne. Santiago to Auckland will continue with four non-stop flights weekly.
A new Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse has opened at Los Angeles’s Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT), on level six. Many clients use Air New Zealand or Delta flights from Auckland to LAX and connect to Virgin Atlantic’s three-daily flights to London. The lounge embraces the usual edgy Virgin Clubhouse brief (see our image), and is designed with wellness in mind, has local artwork and sunset-inspired mood lighting. Check out The Ruby Room, a Hollywood-inspired space with its own cinema, or The Zen Den is an immersive space featuring relaxation, movement, and mindfulness sessions, powered by the FORME Studio. The lounge has shower suites, with shower and body products from Flamingo Estate’s Garden Essentials collection. Entry is for Business Class travellers.