June 28, 2005
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai Airways International and Air New Zealand will begin reciprocal code-share flights from July 1, the airlines said Tuesday.
The agreement will see Air New Zealand code-share on Thai services between Bangkok and the Asian destinations Singapore and Phuket, and between Bangkok and European cities Copenhagen, Frankfurt, London, Rome and Stockholm.
"The code-share agreement enables Air New Zealand to market Bangkok as a gateway to various destinations in addition to our own existing Asian gateways of Singapore and Hong Kong," Norm Thompson, Air New Zealand Group general manager for marketing, said in a statement.
Thai Airways will also code-share on Air New Zealand's various domestic and trans-Tasman Sea services between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane in Australia.
Thai Airways executive vice president Vasing Kittikul hailed the agreement as an opportunity for the carrier "to expand into Wellington and Christchurch, which is a new prospective market for THAI."
Thai Airways now serves more than 72 destinations in 33 countries, while Air New Zealand serves 47 destinations in 14 countries, the statement said.