Dec 24, 2015, 2:08 pm
Last edit by: Mwenenzi
American Begins LAX - AKL / Auckland, New Zealand 788 Flights 23 June 2016
No flights 5 August 2017 and 5 October 2017 Refer to post 230 link.
American’s Los Angeles to Auckland flight will be suspended from August to October, and will then be upgraded from a 787-8 to a 787-9
Departs LAX at 10:45 p.m.
Arrives at AKL at 6:35 a.m., two days later
AKL-LAX
Departs AKL at 1:20 p.m.
Arrives at LAX at 6:20 a.m., same day
Enhanced service includes mattress pads, pajamas and new meals items in Business Class.
If tonight's sampling at the launch event was an accurate preview, then here's the menu they provided for LAX-AKL:
Canape:
Salmon Caviar Tartlet
Main Plates:
Grilled Beef Filet, balsamic butter, twice baked potato, baby squash
Eggplant Lasagne, pomodoro sauce
Pesto Grilled Shrimp
Dessert:
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Brownie, Strawberry Cheesecake)
Mid-Flight Snack:
Angus Beef Slider
White Wine:
Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc, North Canterbury, NZ
Red Wine:
Opawa Pinot Noir, Marlborough, NZ
Canape:
Salmon Caviar Tartlet
Main Plates:
Grilled Beef Filet, balsamic butter, twice baked potato, baby squash
Eggplant Lasagne, pomodoro sauce
Pesto Grilled Shrimp
Dessert:
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (Cherry Garcia, Chocolate Brownie, Strawberry Cheesecake)
Mid-Flight Snack:
Angus Beef Slider
White Wine:
Mt. Beautiful Sauvignon Blanc, North Canterbury, NZ
Red Wine:
Opawa Pinot Noir, Marlborough, NZ
Nov. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines will add new nonstop service between its trans-Pacific gateway hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Auckland Airport (AKL) in June 2016, pending regulatory approvals. The route to Auckland provides American's customers direct access to a new destination and further strengthens the airline's joint business with Qantas Airways. American has added six new trans-Pacific routes over the last three years, nearly doubling its presence in the region...
...American plans to operate its new daily service between LAX and AKL with the newest addition to its fleet, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The Dreamliner features a state-of-the-art onboard travel experience including international Wi-Fi, as well as higher humidity and pressurization closer to sea level conditions, leaving customers more refreshed after their flight. Every seat has a touchscreen monitor equipped with up to 260 movies, 240 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 350 albums and 20 games, along with universal AC power outlets and a USB connection. The aircraft is configured with 28 fully lie-flat Business Class seats, each with direct-aisle access. There are an additional 55 Main Cabin Extra seats with extra legroom, and 143 Main Cabin seats. Link
...American plans to operate its new daily service between LAX and AKL with the newest addition to its fleet, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. The Dreamliner features a state-of-the-art onboard travel experience including international Wi-Fi, as well as higher humidity and pressurization closer to sea level conditions, leaving customers more refreshed after their flight. Every seat has a touchscreen monitor equipped with up to 260 movies, 240 TV shows, 13 radio channels, 350 albums and 20 games, along with universal AC power outlets and a USB connection. The aircraft is configured with 28 fully lie-flat Business Class seats, each with direct-aisle access. There are an additional 55 Main Cabin Extra seats with extra legroom, and 143 Main Cabin seats. Link
Link to Australian Business Traveller article.
AA: service to Auckland, N. Z. / LAX-AKL as of 23 Jun 2016 (master thd)
Nov 11, 2015, 10:08 am
#76
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American's new non-stop Los Angeles-Auckland service is supported by Jetstar's domestic connections to eleven destinations within New Zealand and Qantas Group's nearly 40 daily flights to Australia
Nov 11, 2015, 10:17 am
#77
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And JQ is starting flights to smaller destinations out of AKL quite soon, I'm guessing AA might codeshare (it will definitely interline). Intra-NZ is nothing special though, partly as none of the flights are that long. And JQ is a LCC, but NZ itself operates somewhat like an LCC within New Zealand anyway.
Nov 11, 2015, 10:21 am
#78
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The competition will be nice on this route. Plus with Jetstar, this flight will have connectivity at AKL. I went there 7 years ago and flew NZ and it was probably my favorite flight experience in W. I would go back again.
Nov 11, 2015, 10:45 am
#79
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Nov 12, 2015, 12:00 am
#81
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The main pier only has 10 gates, along with 2 extra gates in pier b (2x wide bodys or 4x narrow).
NZ pretty much hogs most of pier A all morning. An average morning see 8-10 NZ 777/787s arriving before 7.30.
Nov 12, 2015, 3:11 am
#82
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I've updated the thread title to reflect what's been officially announced at this point. If changes do unfold, please do alert moderators so we can be aware.
I'd also like to remind everyone that, as funny as they may be at times, "FTFY" or "fixed that for you" posts are technically in violation of the FlyerTalk Rules. To wit:
Even though they may be received well and in good nature, it's best not to use these as they can easily veer off topic. If they are to be used, please avoid using the QUOTE tag when you do, and do so in a way that makes extraordinarily clear what is being done.
~Moderator
I'd also like to remind everyone that, as funny as they may be at times, "FTFY" or "fixed that for you" posts are technically in violation of the FlyerTalk Rules. To wit:
Posts that misquote or mischaracterize other posts or members, or contain deceptive, dishonest or knowingly inaccurate information are not allowed. (source)
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Nov 12, 2015, 5:40 am
#83
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The major difference is that LAX already has significant service to most of the really important destinations within the USA. Top 12 metro areas by population in the USA (named by airport here by me excepting New York City) are NYC, LAX, ORD, DFW, IAH, PHL, WAS, MIA, ATL, BOS, SFO, and PHX. All of those already have multiple daily services to LAX (while LAX is of course for Los Angeles itself), and all of them (to the best of my knowledge) have a flight option with reasonable connecting times to this one. So do the major tourism markets (read: fill economy class) of LAS and MCO. And, selfishly for me, AUS. The amount of traffic that will take AA to/from New Zealand that is far from any of these points (and not served with a LAX nonstop) is highly unlikely to make or break this route.
I'd be curious to figure out sometime what the largest domestic destination AA serves out DFW that it doesn't serve out of LAX is, I'm guessing it is either DTW or MSP.
I'd be curious to figure out sometime what the largest domestic destination AA serves out DFW that it doesn't serve out of LAX is, I'm guessing it is either DTW or MSP.
In addition to your points, of the cities served from both LAX and DFW, obviously none (besides DFW itself) are appreciably quicker to get to via LAX and several are appreciably slower. So DFW may well make sense to serve the smaller cities and provide better service to big eastern cities (more time on a relatively comfortable long haul plane and less time on a domestic narrow body), but in addition to LAX, not instead of.
Nov 12, 2015, 9:57 am
#84
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I wonder how AA plans on getting an 0635 gate allocation in AKL? I'm guessing they're going to end up on bus gates.
The main pier only has 10 gates, along with 2 extra gates in pier b (2x wide bodys or 4x narrow).
NZ pretty much hogs most of pier A all morning. An average morning see 8-10 NZ 777/787s arriving before 7.30.
The main pier only has 10 gates, along with 2 extra gates in pier b (2x wide bodys or 4x narrow).
NZ pretty much hogs most of pier A all morning. An average morning see 8-10 NZ 777/787s arriving before 7.30.
Nov 12, 2015, 10:04 am
#85
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DTW, SEA, and MSP are 14, 15, and 16 by metro area according to Wikipedia.
In addition to your points, of the cities served from both LAX and DFW, obviously none (besides DFW itself) are appreciably quicker to get to via LAX and several are appreciably slower. So DFW may well make sense to serve the smaller cities and provide better service to big eastern cities (more time on a relatively comfortable long haul plane and less time on a domestic narrow body), but in addition to LAX, not instead of.
In addition to your points, of the cities served from both LAX and DFW, obviously none (besides DFW itself) are appreciably quicker to get to via LAX and several are appreciably slower. So DFW may well make sense to serve the smaller cities and provide better service to big eastern cities (more time on a relatively comfortable long haul plane and less time on a domestic narrow body), but in addition to LAX, not instead of.
. AKL service to the USA is also currently much more concentrated in LAX, just to counter anyone who wishes to point out how AA serves ICN and HKG only from DFW. People flying to AKL from continental USA likely are already doing so via LAX or SFO, those being the only two options currently for continental USA-NZ nonstop, and neither of those are served from a lot of smaller towns already. Those flying to HKG or ICN have many, many more options compared to those flying to AKL, so it makes sense for AA to route all of them through DFW if they want to fly AA.
Nov 12, 2015, 11:00 am
#86
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And all of those DFW-only folks can double connect if they really want . AKL service to the USA is also currently much more concentrated in LAX, just to counter anyone who wishes to point out how AA serves ICN and HKG only from DFW. People flying to AKL from continental USA likely are already doing so via LAX or SFO, those being the only two options currently for continental USA-NZ nonstop, and neither of those are served from a lot of smaller towns already. Those flying to HKG or ICN have many, many more options compared to those flying to AKL, so it makes sense for AA to route all of them through DFW if they want to fly AA.
. AKL service to the USA is also currently much more concentrated in LAX, just to counter anyone who wishes to point out how AA serves ICN and HKG only from DFW. People flying to AKL from continental USA likely are already doing so via LAX or SFO, those being the only two options currently for continental USA-NZ nonstop, and neither of those are served from a lot of smaller towns already. Those flying to HKG or ICN have many, many more options compared to those flying to AKL, so it makes sense for AA to route all of them through DFW if they want to fly AA.
Nov 12, 2015, 11:36 am
#87
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Lucky you. For me, it was at CDG weeks ago. And the time before that was at LHR weeks before that. I've used bus gates on long haul aircraft at AUH, CDG, LHR, FRA, and CAN in recent years, mostly on arrival, and I don't fly that much. It's annoying but not that bad. Won't exactly lead me to connect via SYD to get to AKL to avoid it. And wouldn't even be a deciding factor between AA, UA, and NZ; price, service, seat comfort, schedule, and frequent flyer program (in no particular order) are all more important to me.
Nov 12, 2015, 11:50 am
#88
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I saw this cited info on another forum. Traffic to AKL ex-DFW, 7 passengers a day, ex-LAX its 200. (This was as of last June.) AA will do just fine on LAX-AKL. As the 789s begin to arrive in large numbers, (only four will be coming next year), I expect LAX-AKL will be a prime candidate for an upgauge.
Nov 12, 2015, 12:57 pm
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Nov 12, 2015, 1:04 pm
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NZ connects a lot of people to Australia through AKL, as well as to WLG/CHC/ZQN and many other smaller markets across New Zealand. The 200 per day number LAX-AKL O&D PDEW sounds about right to me.