It’s estimated that nearly three-quarters of 1,000,000 Recent Zealanders now reside in Australia, and travel between each countries is a highly competitive market. Pre-pandemic, 4 key players were servicing most of the key ports on either side of the Tasman; nonetheless, post-pandemic, the image looks barely different.
Starting with Virgin Australia, which operates only a fraction of what it once offered across the ditch before COVID-19, with the airline going into administration throughout the depths of the pandemic, it has scaled back a lot of its international services, and with this, Recent Zealand seems to miss out essentially the most. Before the pandemic, the Brisbane-based carrier operated between Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and Sydney to Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, and Wellington, nonetheless as of today, VA solely operates to Queenstown in Recent Zealand, a bone of contention for those stuck with travel credits and unable to make use of these unless they trek to Queenstown for take-off, or head across the ditch on one other carrier and rebook domestically down-under.
Photo: Virgin Australia
Queenstown well served
Queenstown’s tourist paradise offers a variety of attractions for travelers, from winter skiing to wine tasting within the sunshine; some might say it has all of it, and with this, Aussies flock there year-round to benefit from the landscapes and favorable exchange rates. Queenstown International Airport welcomes Australia’s Jetstar (JQ), Qantas (QF), and Virgin Australia (VA) alongside Recent Zealand’s national carrier, which operates a combination of routes to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and Sydney.
Dunedin is missing its international visitor.
The second largest city in Recent Zealand’s South Island, Dunedin, once had multiple international routes with the likes of Air NZ’s Freedom Air, and more recently, Virgin Australia retained a considerable presence. VA facilitated operations between Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. Nonetheless, the latter two were dropped in 2014. Once the pandemic hit and VA axed most international operations, Dunedin was abandoned and now only operates domestic flights. Virgin has noted that it has no immediate intentions to return to the ‘Edinburgh of the South,’ leaving Dunedin ‘International Airport with no international services.
Photo: Sudpoth Sirirattanasakul | Shutterstock
Jetstar, Qantas, and Air Recent Zealand pulling the load
While previously mentioned, Virgin’s once extensive trans-Tasman operations are absent, three airlines maintain a sturdy network. As expected, Air Recent Zealand offers essentially the most comprehensive network from NZ to nine key destinations trans-Tasman, excess of any of its competitors.
From Christchurch, Qantas and Jetstar collectively serve Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and Sydney, alongside Air Recent Zealand, which does the identical. With Qantas’ latest announcement, the airline will deploy the E190 from Brisbane to Wellington and solidify itself because the international leader within the Kiwi capital, with 28 weekly services, versus Air NZ’s 19. SimpleFlying reached out to Jeremy O’Brien, Air Recent Zealand General Manager of Short-haul, who stated:
“As Recent Zealand’s largest visitor market and our closest and dearest neighbours, Australia is a priority for Air Recent Zealand. We’re pleased to be back to 100% capability, flying to nine key destinations Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Hobart, servicing the market with our modern Airbus 320/321 and Boeing Dreamliner and 777-3 fleet. Because the market continues to get better, we are going to look so as to add frequency across destinations where we see demand from our customer base.”
Photo: Air Recent Zealand
Auckland, the house of Air Recent Zealand, and a base for Jetstar, see’s essentially the most motion, with Air Recent Zealand remaining the important thing player by destinations served, now nine. The national carrier maintains a sturdy network for with a combination of Airbus A320s/321s, alongside the 777-300 and 787 Dreamliner.
Other carriers operating across the ditch include Emirates A380 between Christchurch and Sydney before going to Dubai. AirAsia, between Auckland and Sydney, and LATAM, between Sydney and Auckland, before heading home to Santiago. Soon enough, Batik Air Malaysia will join the combo with its unique Kuala Lumpur – Perth – Auckland service.