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Passengers of Air New Zealand would soon have more destinations to fly to using the carrier. Reports said Air New Zealand would soon announce the major expansion of its routes and fleet on the heels of the airline inking a deal this week with Singapore Airlines, its erstwhile rival.

Newstalk ZB claimed that Air New Zealand would make the announcement this week, while the company's chief executive, Christopher Luxon, previously confirmed the arrival of new jets in 2014.

The alliance with Singapore Airlines would result in Air New Zealand launching daily trips between Auckland and Singapore by December 2014, using its newly refitted Boeing 777-200ER jet. It would also take over five weekly trips currently operated by Singapore Airlines and make it daily.

At the same time, Singapore Airlines would use the bigger Airbus A380 to New Zealand for the first time, replacing a daily service using the smaller Boeing 777-300ER. But it would increase competition in that route to three since Jetstar, owned by Australian flag carrier Qantas, has been servicing that route since 2010.

But the alliance is subject to regulatory approval in the two countries. If given the green light by regulators, it would hike existing capacity by up to 30 per cent.

But the new alliance would not affect the daily Singapore-Christchurch service of Singapore Airlines.

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