Air New Zealand is gearing up to launch a five-times weekly service to Houston, Texas later this year.

Scheduled to begin on December 15, 2015, the new service will operate every day except on Mondays and Saturdays, and will be operated on a B777-200ER aircraft.

Flight NZ028 will depart Auckland at 1830, arriving at Bush Intercontinental Airport at 1315; the return service, flight NZ029, will leave Houston at 2025, landing in Auckland at 0555 two mornings later. www.airnewzealand.com