Tom H

From December of this year, Air New Zealand will be flying non stop to Houston

This will become the quicker way to access the south and east coast of USA.

Brilliant news for anyone that wants to go somewhere in the States that requires a change (Washington, New York, Orlando) or wants to go round the world with Air New Zealand to UK and back. You now have a choice of 2 airports to fly to, for a connection. San Francisco will be relieved that Kiwis have a choice now.

Oh and I highly recommend a trip to Houston. Fantastic city and the Texan triangle road trip is breath-taking, if you loved Cowboys and Indians as a kid. 3 nights in Houston, followed by 3 nights in San Antonio - then north to Dallas for 3 nights before returning to Houston.

Woodlea

There are so many great places in the States, I love Louisiana so would like that flight too. Did they say how long it would be?

Tom H

It looks as if its going to be permanent - able to be booked from May for flights from December onwards

Flights to Houston - North America - Where We Fly - Air New Zealand

It also opens up flights to the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico as well. They're going to do a codeshare with United Airlines from Houston onwards. I know they fly to New Orleans - another fantastic American city well worth a visit. The 6 hour drive from Houston takes you along a famous bridge, one on the to do list

Woodlea

No - I meant how long the actual flight was?

Tom H

Ooops my misunderstanding

Don't think they've said anything about that

Although as it's around 15 hours to fly from Sydney to Dallas and it's 13 hours from Auckland to San Fran, i'd approximately guess it'll be between 13 and 14 hours to fly to Dallas from Auckland non stop. I think they're going to use the 787 Dreamliner for this flight, well I hope they do.

Snap Shot

[QUOTE=Tom H;11619949]i'd approximately guess it'll be between 13 and 14 hours to fly to Dallas from Auckland non stop. /QUOTE]

Would this make flying to London any shorter i.e. transit via Houston not L.A. ?

(I've been to San Antonio and Dallas and enjoyed both cities. Would love to go again but won't be happening in the near future.)

Tom H

[QUOTE=Snap Shot;11620007] I suppose it depends on what terminal they use. Technically, they should be using terminal D at Houston, which British Airways fly into and I know you can use a BA flight to San Francisco and change.. Terminal E at Houston is mainly for United Airlines international flights (they have a flight to London early evening). I'd be surprised if Air New Zealand are allowed to use Terminal E instead of the designated Terminal D. However, if they schedule their flights like they do for San Francisco, you will have a flight that would give you 2 to 3 hours to transit through Houston before boarding your United Airlines or British Airways flight en route to London.

You can also go en-route to Amsterdam and Frankfurt so it gives you another airport to consider other than Singapore or Dubai or multiple airline connections regarding flights to Europe round the world.

In terms of flight lengths, London to Houston is around 9 and a half hours, where as San Francisco is just short of 11 hours in length, flight time. I'd expect the flight times to Auckland to be around 13 to 14 hours (little bit longer than flying from San Fran). It'll probably work out to be around 28 to 32 hours flight time with changes - mainly depending on when you land and how long you have to wait in Houston before your connecting UA or BA flight to London.

It could be as quick as flying to London but for not for a return as you can fly to New Zealand via Singapore in less than 24 hours. Plus via Singapore gives you opportunity to go to the North or South Island, where as all the others result in you going to the North Island only.