Singapore-New Zealand partnership gets green light

Air New Zealand’s alliance with Singapore Airlines, a partnership that  has increased seat capacity between the two countries by 25 per cent, has been given the green light for another five years. New Zealand's  Ministry of Transport announced Friday it had decided to extend authorization for the alliance until 2024. “The services the airlines provide through the alliance strengthens New Zealand’s ties with our close neighbors in South East Asia and with other emerging markets throughout Asia,’’ New Zealand Transport Minister Phil Twyford said in the announcement. “Re-authorisation of the alliance will result in more benefits to travelers. “These benefits include a wider range of flight times, more seats and reciprocal frequent flyer schemes.’’ Both airlines welcomed the decision, which was the last regulatory step in the re-authorization process. READ: The world's longest flight then and now. “Partnerships such as this have been key to successfully growing Air New Zealand’s international network and delivering important benefits to our customers,’ said Air New Zealand chief strategy, networks and alliances officer Paul Judd said. ”Singapore Airlines has been a strong alliance partner and we are excited at the opportunities the re-authorization provides our two airlines.’’ Singapore Airlines senior vice president marketing planning  Tan Kai Ping said the  the decision to re-authorize the alliance reinforced the benefits it had delivered to the New Zealand market in its first four years. The alliance launched in January, 2015 and the airlines say it has provided travelers with greater choice and convenience. This included the launch of a new Wellington-Singapore service via Australia in 2016, which initially flew via Canberra and now comes through Melbourne, as well as increased peak season services to Christchurch. The carriers will be launching a third daily service between Auckland and Singapore on October 28, boosting capacity by 40 per cent on the route and adding 165,000 additional seats annually. They say it will also shorten connection times and improve connectivity to destinations in Europe, India and Southeast Asia through the Singapore hub. During peak months, the airlines will jointly operate a total of 35 return services a week between New Zealand and Singapore, including services from Wellington and Christchurch.