Air New Zealand is fighting back on the Tasman, announcing it will launch seasonal Christchurch- Adelaide services.
NZ’s move comes within three weeks of Qantas announcing Auckland-ADL and AKL-Perth flights. The carrier is getting two new 214- seat A321neos into its fleet within the next two months giving it more flexibility to take on an expansionary QF. Starting 27 Oct, NZ’s CHC-ADL service will operate twice a week, on a Tue and Sat, through to 27 Mar, with around 15,000 seats available. Operated by a narrowbody Airbus jet, the new flights respond to strong demand for travel between Australia and the South Island. NZ ceo Greg Foran says the launch of this service marks another important step in the airline’s growth strategy. ‘’It’s exciting to see growth in our short-haul network, and customers can expect more good news on increased services in the near future.’’
. . . More Domestic
NZ also today announced it is boosting interisland capacity, adding 36,000 seats to its domestic winter flying schedule. NZ will use larger A321 aircraft select routes on its AKL–CHC, AKL–Queenstown, and AKL– Dunedin routes for the winter peak 28 Jun-25 Oct. AKL-DUD flights are being up-gauged to support key student movement dates and special events including the All Blacks game in Dunedin on 5 Jul and Big Sing choral festival 28-30 Aug. There will be 616 up-gauges from A320 to A321neo aircraft and 37 new flights added. NZ is also launching Hamilton-CHC flights.
. . . Back In The Game
NZ’s chief financial officer Richard Thomson says the arrival of new planes, and signs Pratt & Whitney engine issues with its A320-21 fleet are stabilising, helps get the airline ‘back in the game’.’ Latest operating figures show NZ group capacity is down 2.2% in Apr compared to the same month last year, as QF is expanding in this region. In mid-May, QF announced it would fly AKL-ADL with four times a week flights from 31 Oct. The Australian airline had earlier announced it would return to the AKL-PER route in Dec The ADL service out of CHC is another win for the city after Jetstar launched flights to Cairns. NZ also operates between four and six weekly services between AKL and ADL.
