Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftCoaster
Interesting.
I think I brought this up a few years back (pre-covid) as a good idea for a scissor hub over LAX which has obvious visa issues for passengers. I hope it happens!
|
NZ'ers don't need a visa to enter the US. They just need an ETA, same as to Canada. The whole process is straightforward and can be done online for around 40$. You get approval within a day I think. So that's not really the issue.
YVR has the edge over LAX not in terms of visa requirement, but rather in terms of transit experience.
International-international transit in any US airport is a PITA, as there is no sterile transit. You always need to clear customs/immigration and then re-enter the secure side. That's not the case at YVR.
https://traveltalk.nz/reviews-tips/t...2-with-air-nz/
If NZ were to re-engage to LHR, doing it via YVR would make sense.
- Less competition on YVR-LHR vs LAX-LHR. (but also less demand). Less competition on AKL-YVR as well, vs AKL-LAX.
- Sterile transit at YVR, vs a shitty experience at LAX. Probably no need to apply for an ETA in Canada while transiting as well.
- YVR-Europe capacity is still well below 2019, so NZ could capitalize on that as well.
However, they left LHR in 2020 for a reason. I don't see them back there that easily. The overall dynamics of why they left are still there. There is a lot of one stop competition from NZ to LHR. (EK, QR, QF, SQ, CX, AA, UA, DL, AC, Chinese carriers, etc) Will changing the stopover to YVR help alleviate the yield/cost problem? Maybe. Maybe not.