Air New Zealand will run twice weekly direct flights from Auckland to Beijing as well as thrice weekly services to Shanghai from July, reports Air Cargo Asia Pacific.
With late night departures from Auckland and morning arrivals in Beijing, the new service is well-suited to move high-value perishables from New Zealand, the airline said.
Spurred by Olympic Summer Games traffic increases, the strengthening of China services adds weight to the carrier's identification of growing cargo and passenger opportunities there, said the airline.
Bellyhold freight in the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft will continue to be complemented by Air NZ's 744 freighter service, which stops in Shanghai on its round-the-world route. It will also give more flexibility in cargo delivery and pick-up, until now focused on Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Air NZ operates five flights a week to Shanghai. While this will drop temporarily to accommodate the new Beijing service, it will return to five in November, giving the carrier seven 777-200 and one 744F flights in all.
"Our direct Shanghai service was primarily aimed to serve its 17 million citizens," said Ed Sims, Air NZ's group general manager international. "By offering a direct service to Beijing, we expect to gain a greater number of customers looking to travel to New Zealand from other parts of China, and from Europe."
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