Korea, Japan to boost flights with NZ

New Zealand is a popular tourist destination, and Japan and Korea are its No. 4 and No. 5 sources of tourists

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand has inked deals to increase air service with Korea and Japan, the government said Friday.

The deals will boost the number of return flights that airlines from each country can make to 11, up from four now.

The countries have also scrapped restrictions on where the flights can stop between the two countries and where they can land.

That should be good news for Air New Zealand, with around 98,000 South Koreans visiting New Zealand each year. That makes it the country's fifth-largest market.

Air New Zealand also won a separate deal letting it use bigger aircraft on three of its seven weekly flights to Kansai airport, just outside Osaka. It can now use Boeing 747s on those flights instead of 767s.

That's an increase of 160 seats per week in either direction.

Japan is the fourth-biggest market for tourists to New Zealand, sending about 150,000 visitors a year.

Stock in Air New Zealand rose 6.25 percent on Friday to NZ$0.51, on a day the Top 40 gained 0.83 percent.

Japan Airlines System was up 3.28 percent to 283 yen and All Nippon Airlines was up 0.74 percent to 272 yen, as the broad Topix index rose 1.07 percent.

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