Air New Zealand boosts Samoa route

Air New Zealand will fly a combination of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Boeing 777-200 aircraft on Thursdays and Saturdays from September 2017, increasing to four widebody services weekly in the peak season. The change will see seat capacity increase to Samoa by 13 percent in the shoulder season, and 10 percent overall across the year.

Air New Zealand Chief Revenue Officer Cam Wallace says the move to extra scheduled widebody flights will be a significant boost for Samoa's tourism and export industries.

"In the past two years Air New Zealand has added close to 20 percent more capacity to Samoa and it's fantastic to see demand for services continue to grow.

"Today's news gives leisure travellers more choice as to when and how they fly to Samoa, as well as providing improved reliability for exporters freighting time-sensitive goods."

The number of visitors to Samoa from New Zealand increased by 3.8 percent to 57,000 in the year to April 2017.

Air New Zealand will operate its Boeing 787-9, Boeing 777-200 and Airbus A320 aircraft between Auckland and Apia. The core schedule from September 2017 is as below, with an additional two widebody services per week scheduled in the summer peak (Dec-Jan).