Air NZ have just let it be known they are finalising evaluations on two new international destinations and will begin flying to them in 2016.

Air NZ have just let it be known they are finalising evaluations on two new international destinations and will begin flying to them in 2016. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/73789861/air-new-zealand-preparing-to-announce-two-new-international-routes

Any tips on where these might be?

id say Bangkok, Chicago or even Frankfurt sound likely

I don't think Frankfurt is likely, because firstly they codeshare European flights with SQ and SQ is hesitant about letting fellow Star Alliance members use Singapore as hub for ongoing destinations. If they fly via Los Angeles it could be likely.

Agree Frankfurt unlikely - though they used to fly there via LAX in the 1980's and 1990's. The new routes are more likely to be pacific rim and tie up with a local partner - this is the preferred strategy with all of the recent new route announcements.

Bangkok, Seoul or another destination in the US is likely.

cant see frankfurt unless they use singapore as a stopover since they have the alliance with singapore  airlines 

No, it won't be FRA as it will require a stop (NZ focusses on pacific rim). ORD was up against IAH last year for the new North American route and lost.

I believe there will be a route to Inida as this has been on the table before.

Also perhaps BKK. Although NZ will most likely form some sort of codeshare with TG as NZ don't like to 'compete' per se on routes with other carriers.

Could also speculate JNB? NZ charters aircraft regularly to South Africa for the All Blacks. In addition SA is a fellow *A carrier.

Cant see FRA , they have been there and with SQ and LH alliances quite strong today if you look at fares to europe  , why would they , i think JNB is a real option but would that require a stop? alos they done IAH so will let that settle in along with EZE that seems logical again to have it settle in . BKK maybe , reasonably well served and when i look never over booked on TG 

we have missed india??

India is certainly on the radar but a big call.

The other location that is a little closer to home is CBR - it could be the first scheduled Trans Tasman service. 

AKL-CBR would be nice, but if it happened it would likely be in addition to the two new services they're talking about, as they've said the new services will be long haul.

As BizTraveller said, Air NZ's strategy is clear, to serve Pacific Rim ports and tie up with a local partner. By doing so it locks up as much of the traffic on that route as possible. To this you can also add serving a port that has a strong concentration of traffic in one airport i.e. not a market with multiple large arports dividing the international traffic between them.

This for me rules out the likes of FRA, which requires a fuel stop, and India, which has many international ports and no one dominant one. BKK seems a likely candidate to leverage TG's networks through SE Asia, although the overlap with existing partner SQ via SIN could be an issue.

A left-field option would be a tie-up with VN, which is growing fast, though it is a SkyTeam carrier and has the issue of two major hubs.

JNB would make some sense as another left-field option, though I would imagine flights would be routed through PER rather than non-stop to reduce ETOPS issues and gather traffic from BNE/MEL/ADL. SAA flies this route, but having experienced their 'service' in the past, I suspect NZ would be a more popular option. However unless SAA  is pulling out of this route I see minimal benefit for NZ in duplicating SAA services.

Speaking of withdrawals, if MAS is thinking of pulling out of NZ during its restructuring then KUL would make sense for Air NZ.

Having said all of that, given the local partner/concentrated port logic, the clear option for mine would be ICN. OZ doesn't fly to AKL any more, and NZ could easily leverage off OZ's networks through ICN to route pax into China, as I believe NZ can't run any more of its own services into the PRC due to air traffic rights limitations.

ICN and BKK make the most sense to me. Happy to be proved wrong though :)

With the emphasis on Pacific rim, a total left field option could be Lima (mybe even throwing in Easter Island). It would work well in conjunction with the new Buenos Aires flight.

Local media in NZ today speculate Vietnam and possibibily the Philippines

Air New Zealand going to Videtnam?  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11544340

The airline will make what it calls a "significant announcement" at a briefing in Auckland tomorrow (13th Nov) and is known to have been looking hard at new South East Asian routes. 

Air New Zealand has confirmed it will start flying to Vietnam in 2016. According to a press conference held this morning.

The airline will fly three times a week from Auckland to Ho Chi Minh city. The route will operate from June to October next year, with the potential to expand the season in subsequent years.

With a flight time of around 11 hours, the direct service will be operated by the airline's Boeing 767-300 aircraft. Won't that be fun!!

Very interesting development. Sounds like Air NZ is going more for point-to-point (especially tourism) traffic on this route and not a tie-up with a local partner as with EZE, IAH, etc.

I guess that's why they're using the leisure-oriented 763s rather than the newer aircraft (if they had any spare)... and while the 763s have old IFE and tired cabins, a bit of a drag for 11 hours, at least they have lots of spaaaace in Y compared to the 777s and 789s, which needless to say are cramped. So not all bad :)