United Air Cancels U.S.-to-New Zealand Route Thursday January 9, 10:34 pm ET WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--UAL Corp.'s United Airlines said Friday it will stop flying between New Zealand and the U.S. as part of its program to return to profitability. The last United aircraft will depart Auckland for Los Angeles March 29, the airline said in a statement. Jim Brennan, United's vice president - Pacific South, said the airline had been losing money on the route because for the past two years, passenger numbers between New Zealand and the U.S. had been decreasing while the number of available seats across all airlines had increased. "The result is that average fares between the U.S. and New Zealand have decreased steadily over the past two years and our operations to New Zealand have become unprofitable," said Mr. Brennan. The decision will likely prove to be a bonus for Air New Zealand as it leaves the local carrier and Qantas as the only two airlines to fly direct to the U.S. from New Zealand. The news comes just a day after Qantas announced it would discontinue its first-class service from New Zealand to the U.S., running just a business- and economy-class service. "It's in light of reduced customer demand for a first-class product on the route," a Qantas spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires. A deal for Qantas to take a 550 million New Zealand dollar (US$292.1 million), 22.5% stake in Air New Zealand through an issue of new shares was signed last December. But the deal, which would see the two airlines cooperating across some routes, awaits approval from competition watchdogs in Australia and New Zealand. United ticket holders for flights to or from New Zealand will be taken by Air New Zealand, a member of the Star Alliance airline network like United, the U.S. carrier said. _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus