While in Japan this week, Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran has shared that the airline will add 30,000 seats to its Tokyo route from November to March, giving Japanese customers more options to book travel to New Zealand.

The increase is a result of the airline’s 777s flying more frequently to Japan. With 342 seats, including 44 Business Premier and 54 Premium Economy, it offers more capacity and options to book premium cabins.

Foran says the increase in capacity reflects the demand the airline is seeing and will boost economic growth in tourism for New Zealand.

“Japan is an incredibly important visitor market for the New Zealand tourism industry, so additional seats over our busiest season means more inbound travel from Japan.

“Adding the 777 to more of our Tokyo services means that there are more seats available in premium cabins and that customers may experience our newly refreshed aircraft, which includes new seat covers and updated soft products like pillows and blankets.”

It’s part of an increase in capacity to key destinations in Asia, with the airline adding more than 55,000 seats across Singapore, Tokyo, and Taipei between November 2024 and March 2025.

The increase includes a higher proportion of premium seats, giving customers more opportunities to travel with extra space and comfort.

Asia capacity increases for November 2024 – March 2025 include:

• Tokyo: 30,000 additional seats, the majority of which are Business Premier or Premium Economy
• Singapore: 20,000 additional seats, 11,000 of which are in Business Premier or Premium Economy
• Taipei: 7,500 additional Business Premier and Premium Economy seats

“Air New Zealand’s purpose is to enrich our country by connecting New Zealanders with each other and New Zealand with the world. We’re excited to welcome even more customers onboard on their travels to and from Asia.

“Our premium cabins are incredibly popular with customers travelling to and from destinations like Singapore, Tokyo, and Taipei, so we’re pleased to introduce increased capacity from November to give those customers more seats to book travel.

“It’s a terrific way to support our tourism economy as Aotearoa welcomes back more tourists from Asia. Tourism has been a little slower to return from Asia than we had expected, but we’re now seeing that pick up, so more premium seats means more options for customers,” says Foran.

Foran was in Japan as part of the business delegation accompanying Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s mission.

Prime Minister, Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, said: “New Zealand and Japan have long-standing connections, particularly when it comes to our tourism sector. Pre-covid we welcomed over 100,000 visitors from Japan every year so it’s great to see air travel capacity increasing again, providing an important boost to New Zealand’s economy.”