ROUTES - Air New Zealand mulls London return, gets Gatwick slots

Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) has allocated Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) slots at London Gatwick over the 2025 northern summer. The airline says it is exploring options about a return to the United Kingdom after electing to axe flights there in 2019.


"It’s not uncommon for airlines to apply for slots in new airports as part of this network review process," a spokesperson told ch-aviation. "London is one of those destinations New Zealand has a very special connection to and we continue to explore options.”


ACL data shows Air New Zealand had unsuccessfully applied for 420 slots at London Heathrow over the next northern summer season. It was not alone. The slot coordinator received requests for 28,909 slots and granted just 0.6% (181) of those. However, Air New Zealand was awarded 236 slots at Gatwick over the 2025 summer.


After quitting Heathrow in early 2020, Air New Zealand sold its daily slot pair to United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) in mid-2020. The service had operated from Auckland via Los Angeles International. While profitable, the route became less so after Air New Zealand swapped out its B747 product for its B777, which was less popular with passengers. Stiff competition on the Los Angeles-Heathrow leg also influenced the decision to drop the London flights.


Meanwhile, as reported in the NZ Herald, four of Air New Zealand's fourteen B787-9s are AOG, necessitating another round of schedule changes over the southern 2024/25 summer season. The airline attributed the unscheduled grounding of the fourth aircraft to "continued engine challenges." The carrier's B787s use Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. Air New Zealand has spread its latest schedule changes across its international network to minimise the impact on any one route.


Air New Zealand has just commenced a refurbishment of its B787-9 fleet and is planning a soft refurbishment of its B777-300ER fleet later this decade. The updated B787-9 aircraft will commence revenue flights in the first half of 2025. ch-aviation fleets data shows ZK-NZH (msn 37964) has ferried to Singapore Changi to undergo the first cabin refurbishment, ZK-NZG (msn 37963) and ZK-NZR (msn 65088) are both parked at Auckland, and ZK-NZK (msn 43217) is stored at Alice Springs.


The B787-9s and B777-300ERs comprise Air New Zealand's long-range fleet. However, neither type can fly from Auckland to London nonstop. Any restart, if it happens, will necessitate a refuelling stop somewhere. The airline's current network extends to New York JFK in the east and Singapore in the west.

CH Aviation

Photo: Duncan Stewart - LAX