Air New Zealand is to join the crowded skies between Hong Kong and London this autumn when it becomes the fifth full-service airline to offer daily flights on the route.
It plans to begin the service on October 28 during the run-up to the holiday peak season when low-cost start-ups are also scheduled to enter the market and incumbents will be looking to increase their frequencies.
'We are prepared for strong competition and, on the back of our recent product upgrades, for business class and frequent fliers we genuinely believe we have the best premium product in the market,' Ed Sims, group general manager international airlines said yesterday.
Tourism between Hong Kong and Britain has been booming for the past few years. Last year Hong Kong received 464,000 visitors from Britain, up 13 per cent year on year.
Chek Lap Kok will be the mid-way stop for Air New Zealand's new Auckland-London service and Mr Sims expects 20 per cent of the route's travellers to come from Hong Kong.
But it will be flying in increasingly crowded skies.
Cathay Pacific Airways flies four times a day to London from Hong Kong, British Airways flies three times daily, while Qantas Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly daily. Low-cost start-up Hong Kong Oasis Airlines is also expected to begin its maiden flights to London's Gatwick airport in the fourth quarter.