Air New Zealand wrote a touching love letter to New York to celebrate the first anniversary of the route. NZ's flagship carrier debuted the service on September 17, 2022 flying a 2018 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The flight took 15:46 hours and landed at New York John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK).
"Dear New York,
After 365 wonderful days, 311 glorious flights and thousands of thrilled customers later, we’re celebrating our best ultra-long-distance relationship to date.
The relationship began at 5pm on 17 September 2022 and boy was it love at first sight. Soaring through the skies at 43,000ft it was clear we would be in it for the long haul.
Every relationship comes with its baggage and this one was no different. We’ve carried thousands of bags and while 65 were (temporarily) left behind, we made sure everyone was reunited with its partner.
We flirted with some troublesome weather, but we’ll never forget the three romantic dates we spent together in the tropics. And while it doesn’t happen often, we know it’s always there if we need to refuel our relationship.
We’re the first to admit that long distance isn’t always easy, but with commitment, being direct and doing our best to always be on time, we’ve made it work. We’re so lucky to have the full support of our airline whānau to help our relationship thrive.
Our love language is acts of service and over the year we’ve shared more than 112,000 meals, 24,000 glasses of bubbles and cuddled up to watch 344,000 hours of movies together (no Inflight Entertainment and Chill). Nothing says quality time like ultra-long-haul.
We know someone else has turned up on the scene but we’re not the jealous type. We both know who offers a better service in the sky.
Around this time next year, we might look a little different. We’re going in for a FACE lift and knocking 19 years off our age. But don’t worry we’ll still be the same Kiwi you fell in love with all those days ago.
So here’s to our continued journey together. May it be full of clear skies, happy customers and memories to last a lifetime.
Happy anniversary New York – you’re forever our favourite route."
Air New Zealand also took a subtle dig at Qantas with the line, "We know someone else has turned up on the scene but we’re not the jealous type." Qantas operates a Sydney-New York service.
