AUCKLAND — Air New Zealand’s push into the Canadian market continues with the carrier’s newly announced nonstop, year-round service from Chicago to Auckland.

The new route is scheduled to take off Nov. 30, 2018 in partnership with United Airlines with nonstop, three times weekly service. Flight time will be approximately 15 hours northbound and just over 16 hours southbound.

“We expect the addition of Chicago to our network to be an attractive option for Canadians keen to explore New Zealand and Kiwis wanting to visit Chicago or head on to other North American destinations,” says Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon.

“This new route offers greater choice and flexibility for Canadian customers, especially those connecting through to New Zealand from key eastern markets such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal with just one stop.”

Canadian demand for travel to New Zealand continues to rise with visitor arrivals up 11.4% for the year ending February, he added.

The new Auckland – Chicago route forms part of the airline’s alliance with United Airlines on flights between New Zealand and the mainland U.S. The alliance launched in 2016 and has opened up more travel options for New Zealand and U.S. travellers.

The route will be serviced by Air New Zealand’s new configuration B787-9 Dreamliners with Business Premier (27 seats), Premium Economy (33 seats), Economy (215 seats) and Economy Skycouch (13 rows) seating options.

Air New Zealand also flies nonstop to Auckland out of Vancouver. In 2017, marking the route’s 10th anniversary, Air New Zealand announced it was bumping up its Vancouver service by nearly 20% from January – July 2018, with more frequencies.

The flights went daily beyond the peak months of December and January into the shoulder season of February, and increased to five services a week in March and April (up from four). From May to mid-June 2018 the carrier will offer four weekly flights out of Vancouver, up from three.