Air New Zealand’s inaugural flight between Auckland and Ho Chi Minh City has touched down overnight.
Flight NZ269 departed Auckland International Airport at 12:45pm yesterday and arrived into Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport at around 8pm on Saturday local time (1am Sunday NZ time).
Passengers, including Minister of Economic Development Hon. Steven Joyce and Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand HE Mr Viet Dung Nguyen, were welcomed on arrival with a traditional kapa haka performance.
Air New Zealand Chief Sales and Commercial Officer Cam Wallace, who also travelled on the inaugural flight, says the addition of Ho Chi Minh City takes the airline’s total number of international destinations to 30.
“This new service is a further expansion of our presence in South East Asia and our strategic focus on the Pacific Rim. We’re very excited to be able to offer our customers the first direct air link between New Zealand and Vietnam which will operate on a seasonal basis three times per week from now through until the end of October.”
Air New Zealand’s Ho Chi Minh City service follows the launches of new services to Houston, Buenos Aires and Beijing in December last year and the airline will also launch non-stop flights between Auckland and Manila in the Philippines in December this year.
