From October 28 this year, those travelling between Auckland and Los Angeles will have a second choice of carrier beyond Air New Zealand.
Delta is going all in on the route, starting with a daily service.
Delta will fly its newest aircraft, the Airbus A350-900, although this particular aircraft is one of the ex-LATAM planes purchased from the Chilean airline after it entered bankruptcy protection.
This means that rather than the Delta One Suite complete with doors, travellers in business will find the old LATAM product of six rows across.
Delta claims they have moved to bring these aircraft up to Delta standards, but this will disappoint those expecting something more cutting-edge.
The Points Guy reviewed this ex-LATAM product last year: https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-air-lines-used-airbus-a350-business-class-review/.
The Delta business class is arguably still superior to what Air New Zealand currently offers in their outdated reverse herringbone product, although this will change when they refresh their fleet with their new offering from 2024.
Air New Zealand New Business Premier – coming in 2024
Links between the US and New Zealand have come back strongly after the pandemic closed the country to the rest of the world.
United links Auckland and San Fransisco, and American fly from the Kiwi capital to Dallas.
Air New Zealand link Auckland with Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Chicago, Houston and New York in the US and Vancouver in Canada.
Qantas will start service between Auckland and New York this year in June.
