Air New Zealand adding Newark flight next year

Air New Zealand will begin flying to Newark next October.

Thrice-weekly Auckland-Newark service will be the carrier's fifth U.S. route, joining flights from Auckland to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago. The route will also be Air New Zealand's longest and the fifth-longest in the world, with a northbound flight time of 15 hours and 40 minutes and southbound flight time of 17 hours and 40 minutes, Air New Zealand said.

Air New Zealand will fly a 275-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner configured with a higher proportion of business and premium economy seats than the carrier typically offers.

As it revealed the new U.S. route, Air New Zealand also announced that it would discontinue its service from Los Angeles onto London next October. The carrier has flown Los Angeles-London since 1982.

"Visitor growth to New Zealand is strongest from North America and performance of our new service to Chicago is exceeding expectations," acting CEO Jeff McDowall said in a statement. "New York has been an aspiration for Air New Zealand for some time, and withdrawal from the Atlantic will free up aircraft capacity to make this milestone a reality."

Air New Zealand began flying to Chicago last November. The carrier partners with fellow Star Alliance member United.