Air New Zealand is considering relaunching flights from Auckland to London.
Air New Zealand recently applied for daily slots at London Heathrow (LHR) but was denied. Gaining access to Heathrow slots is a major challenge. Dozens of airlines request slots and nearly 100% get denied. The most likely way to enter LHR would be to buy or lease a slot from an existing owner.
Fortunately, it secured daily slots at London Gatwick (LGW) for potential service as early as July 2025. However, it remains unclear whether the airline will proceed with these flights or which transit point it might use.
Air New Zealand previously operated flights from Auckland (AKL) to London Heathrow (LHR) via Los Angeles (LAX) until 2020, when it sold its Heathrow slots for $27 million.
Air New Zealand is the national flag airline of New Zealand. The airline operates a fleet of Airbus A320, A320neo, A321neo, ATR 72-600, 777-300ER, 787-9, and Dash 8-300.
