AirNZ CEO: Emirates' trans-Tasman A380 flights 'not a big threat'
By David Flynn, May 18 2017
Air New Zealand is confident of holding onto its half of the trans-Tasman travel pie, despite the presence of Emirates' Airbus A380 superjumbos – replete with business class seats and first class suites – darting daily from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Auckland and back.
"The Tasman has always been a very contested piece of water," observes Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon, speaking to Australian Business Traveller on the sidelines of an international Star Alliance media briefing in Frankfurt, "but we've been able to maintain our share pretty well on the Tasman."
Alongside partner Virgin Australia the Star Alliance member claims 52% of Australians flying to New Zealand and back.
"The real challenge is the a number of 'fifth freedom' flyers that are on the route now," Luxon adds – flights which, under commercial aviation rights, permit an airline from one country to carry passengers between two other countries.
Emirates is the most noticeable of these fifth freedom players across the Tasman, buoyed by its Qantas partnership.
But the colossus of the Middle East "is not a big threat to us," Luxon believes, "because we fly our wide-bodied aircraft – the Boeing 777-300ER and 787 Dreamliner – over in the morning and back in the evening for our corporate customers, and those have an excellent business class with lie-flat beds."
"And we do have corporate customers who opt for those flights. If I'm going to Sydney for the day I tend to go out on the 6am or 7am flight and then be back home at midnight."
The rest of the daily schedule is given over to the smaller all-economy Airbus A320 jets, which Luxon says provide "massive frequency throughout the day and also work from a schedule point of view... whereas I think some of the the fifth freedom flying is a way to subsidise and recover some costs but the schedule doesn’t always work for a business traveller."
"So it's not a big issue, it's just that the amount of added capacity coming into the Tasman from those players is the challenge."
David Flynn travelled to Frankfurt as a guest of Star Alliance.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
14 Jan 2014
Total posts 285
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
30 Nov 2015
Total posts 745
QFF
12 Apr 2013
Total posts 1446
24 Aug 2011
Total posts 566
For NZ business people, it is not particularly convenient either way. Due to the time difference, they can get an early departure on NZ or VA (or QF) out of NZ and still make a morning appointment in MEL or SYD and EK does not offer an evening return service either so unless they want to spend another night in AU and lose most of the next day, EK is useless.
19 Sep 2012
Total posts 6
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 May 2017
Total posts 3
21 Sep 2011
Total posts 65
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 May 2012
Total posts 159
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 644
EK=
U get the best product @ similar fare level but the schedule choose U, not the other way around.
NZ, QF and other local players=
U get much worse product than EK but U or your meeting across the strait choose the schedule...like most other normal consumer services.
NZ is right. Until EK hv unlimited frequency freedom in Trans-Tasman mkt, they won't be a big threat.
10 Nov 2016
Total posts 3
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
20 Jul 2012
Total posts 9
No brainer, Emirates it is.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
13 Jan 2017
Total posts 71
However not EK again. Infrequent services, unreliable departures up to 4hrs late in some cases, very poor unfriendly on-board service, dirty cabins and unhygienic practices by crew.
Much prefer QF or NZ.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Jan 2017
Total posts 5
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
12 Jan 2017
Total posts 5
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