Air New Zealand Eyes London Flights

Air New Zealand is keen on relaunching flights to London as part of a continued expansion to its long-haul network.

The New Zealand flag-carrier labelled the move to relaunch service as a high priority, but some roadblocks still exist within the operation, preventing this from taking shape.

Speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit, and highlighted by Stuff.co, the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, Jeremy O’Brien, said that London remains a pivotal location for the business to this day.

Even without connectivity with its aircraft, many of those based in New Zealand fly to the United Kingdom for leisure or business travel, and some even travel for study.

As a result, finding a way to relaunch flying towards London is a vital part of the future network planning, which is ongoing. The ties are strong, but making the route a reality again is the bigger challenge.

Service to London was discontinued as part of the many route casualties that came in 2020 as part of a response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, unlike other markets that returned to the network, London has yet to do so, five years on from the suspension and sale of the slot at the major airport of Heathrow. O’Brien is confirming that dialogue exists to make this a reality once more.

To make all of this possible, a decision is also needed regarding the transit point. Los Angeles was previously the port selected, but much will go into the decision, which has to benefit the airline and be a logical move for its customer base.

Air New Zealand Confirms Interest In 2024

Stuff Travel in December 2024 spoke with Greg Foran, an executive at the company, who revealed that slots had been acquired to fly into London Gatwick. Still, the aircraft necessary for this were not available, and thus a launch did not occur.

This follows reporting from Ishrion Aviation in November 2024 that its attempts to relaunch flights to London were well underway, requesting even a slot back into Heathrow, which was denied.

That request transferred into a London Gatwick slot, which was granted for daily commencing if all things worked out in July 2025. However, this did not occur due to aircraft limitations.

For Air New Zealand to make this a reality moving forward, it needs assurances that new aircraft from Boeing, which it is expecting, will be delivered to support the planes operating this service.

The flag-carrier of New Zealand previously confirmed its intention to move towards a long-haul fleet only consisting of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, thus retiring the 777s.

However, due to the delays in acquisition efforts, this transition has been delayed towards the backend of this decade, and a shortage of Dreamliners has also been visible because of ongoing engine reliability concerns, leading to groundings of the 787 fleet in recent years.