Auckland Airport said visitor numbers from Argentina shot up 35% in the three months from December last year.
And it said air cargo exports to Argentina were worth $7.3 million since the service started, up 127% on the same time a year earlier.
“The extra two flights each week will support more trade opportunities for exporters while making travel between the three markets easier,” Auckland Airport’s chief customer officer Scott Tasker said.
“Kiwi travellers are also making the most of the direct link with 22% more travelling to Argentina now the direct flight connection is available.”
Flight MU745 from Shanghai to Auckland to Buenos Aires takes 26 hours, and the return journey, known as MU746, takes 29 hours.
In Auckland, everybody disembarks and the aircraft gets cleaned and refuelled.
Some passengers join or leave in New Zealand but others stay for the entire journey.
Since last November, Chinese nationals have been able to transit through on a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) without having to apply for a separate transit visa.
The airport said for the first five months of the service, more than 8000 Chinese travellers flew through Auckland Airport to or from Buenos Aires.
The airport said growth between Auckland and mainland China was expected to continue, with seat capacity forecast to increase 8% year-on-year to the end of October 2026.
“Increased seat capacity on the Auckland-China routes is a key driver for visitor and ‘visiting friends and family’ markets, both of which are vital to growing our tourism economy,” Tasker said.
The China Eastern Airlines flight when it landed in Auckland during the first flight MU745 last summer. Photo / Auckland Airport
There is one other direct air link between New Zealand and South America, with Latam Airlines flying between Auckland and Santiago in Chile on a Boeing 787.
That service started a month before MU745, and previously Auckland was a Latam stopover to Chile on the way from Sydney.
Exports through Auckland Airport to markets via Buenos Aires and Santiago grew 120% year-on-year to 105 tonnes, the airport said.
It said the value of those exports surged 22% year-on-year to $28.6m.
According to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, total New Zealand exports to Argentina in 2024 were worth $60.95m.
China Eastern uses a Boeing 777-300ER (extended range) widebody on the route.
Among commercial aircraft currently in production, only the Airbus A350-1000 rivals the 777-300ER in size.
John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.
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