Star Alliance member Air New Zealand will suspend its non-stop Auckland – Chicago service from March 31 to October 25, 2024.
The airline says the route is suspended due to ongoing challenges with the availability of working Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines powering its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, which is impacting airlines around the world.
Customers booked on Air New Zealand services in Chicago will be rebooked on a connection through another US airport to take them to their destination.
Customers who booked directly with Air New Zealand will receive their new itinerary within 72 hours and will not need to contact Air New Zealand. Those who booked through a travel agent should contact their agent to confirm changes to their itinerary.
Passengers can also choose to receive a full refund or credit their reservation.
Leanne Geraghty, Air New Zealand's director of sales and customers, says it was a difficult decision to make, but one that results in the fewest number of customers affected.
“Unfortunately, Air New Zealand continues to be affected by challenges with the availability of Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines, meaning we will now have up to three aircraft unavailable for an extended period, so we have had to review our schedule.
“We made the difficult decision to temporarily pause the Chicago route while maintaining our schedule of up to 35 flights each week to six ports in the US and Canada, so there are still many options to reach Chicago, US and beyond. ”
Air New Zealand also flies to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New York and Honolulu in the US, as well as Vancouver in neighboring Canada.
airnewzealand.com
