Tianjin Airlines to launch AKL service
China's Tianjin Airlines to launch direct flights to Auckland
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Auckland will be the first Australasian destination for Tianjin Airlines.
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Auckland will be the first Australasian destination for Tianjin Airlines.
China's Tianjin Airlines is launching a new service to New Zealand, with flights to begin operating in December.
The cities of Tianjin and Chongqing will be connected with Auckland three times a week using an A330 aircraft.
Auckland would be the first Australasian destination for the airline, Auckland Airport general manager Norris Carter said in a statement.
"Regional China is a rapidly developing source market for New Zealand tourism and these new routes flying directly to Auckland provide another option for Chinese visitors to experience New Zealand."
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It was estimated that the new service would add 83,000 seats to the China to Auckland route every year.
China is New Zealand's second biggest source of tourists after Australia. In the year ended May 2016, the number of Chinese visitors to New Zealand rose 27.4 per cent to 394,528.
With a population of more than 15 million people, Tianjin is the largest coastal city in northern China.
Chongqing is a major economic centre of the Yangtze basin and has population of more than 30 million people.
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