New airline deal welcomed by tourism body

Tourism New Zealand said moves by Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines to create an alliance would release the "handbrake" on visitor numbers from Southeast and South Asia.

The two airlines intend to form an alliance under which Singapore Airlines would operate a daily Airbus A380 service between Auckland and Singapore, while Air New Zealand would operate a daily Boeing777-200ER service to Singapore from as early as December.

The alliance would result in an increase in the airlines’ existing seat capacity between New Zealand and Singapore by up to 30%.

Tourism New Zealand CEO Kevin Bowler said Singapore alone was an important and growing visitor market for New Zealand, with arrival numbers up by 13% in the past year.

"But Singapore is also a vital hub for Asia," he added.

"There is a lot of airline capacity into Singapore from Europe and across Asia, but until now there has been a lack of onward capacity between Singapore and New Zealand, affecting our ability to grow visitors through Singapore.

"This has been a handbrake on the opportunity to grow visitor numbers from South and Southeast Asia."

Bowler said the announcement "is a real boost for our new investments in emerging markets like India and Indonesia, with a lot more capacity and great connections from multiple cities right across Asia".