Air New Zealand starts Auckland-Chicago flights

Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 — Photo: © Chris Sutton

Air New Zealand has started its new service between Auckland and Chicago on Friday. With a flight time of approximately 15 hours northbound and just over 16 hours southbound, the new connection is Air New Zealand’s longest flight.

We’re excited to offer our customers a direct link between New Zealand and Chicago. With our alliance partner United operating more flights out of its hub of O’Hare International Airport than any other airline, the new service to Chicago will provide customers with convenient one-stop codeshare connections to around 100 destinations across the US.Christopher Luxon, Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer

The inaugural @FlyAirNZ flight from Auckland (AKL) to Chicago (ORD) departed from AKL a few minutes ago

The new service is operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft https://t.co/kL69EFhovb pic.twitter.com/BVcxwLsRx9

— International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) November 30, 2018

The Auckland-Houston route has previously been the airline’s longest flight with a flight time of approximately 13.5 hours. The new route to Chicago is ranked in the top 20 longest flights in the world. Singapore Airlines has recently restarted the world’s longest flight from Singapore to New York Newark (EWR).