Air New Zealand is slashing fares on domestic trunk routes for the second time in nine months, as it launches an extra 6000 seats a week into the market over the coming year.
Air New Zealand Group General Manager Australasia Bruce Parton says leisure travellers in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown will be the first to benefit from an aggressive new approach to fill the 320,000 additional seats per year that are being added to the New Zealand domestic network.
Examples of new lead-in ?Seat? fares announced today – one way per person, internet price, include
| Route | Old Price | New Price | Reduction |
| Auckland – Wellington | $69 | $49 | -29% |
| Christchurch – Wellington | $59 | $49 | -17% |
| Auckland – Queenstown | $99 | $79 | -20% |
| Auckland – Dunedin | $93 | $79 | -15% |
| Auckland Christchurch | $69 | $59 | -14% |
The new fares are available for sale immediately and are effective for travel from 1 September 2012.
In further good news, business travellers also benefit from reductions in lead-in Flexi Plus fares (one way per person, internet price). Examples include:
| Route | Old Price | New Price | Reduction |
| Auckland – Wellington | $244 | $199 | -18% |
| Christchurch – Wellington | $224 | $199 | -11% |
| Auckland – Queenstown | $356 | $209 | -41% |
| Auckland – Dunedin | $360 | $239 | -34% |
| Auckland Christchurch | $295 | $249 | -15% |
Pricing on regional services is also under review, with the first of the new ATR72-600 turbo prop aircraft arriving in just a few months.
?We are currently engaging with key regional stakeholders around the country who are interested in growing tourism into their markets,? Mr Parton says.
As well as new ATR aircraft, Air New Zealand has more 171-seat A320 aircraft due to arrive into the domestic jet fleet to replace its 133-seat Boeing 737s.
?We want to stimulate demand to get more Kiwis flying and with more than US$1 billion of domestic aircraft on order we are ready to support a rebound in the economy,? says Mr Parton.
?In November last year we dropped lead-in fares by up to $10. We are committed to growing our business and today?s further price drop builds on our leadership in lowering domestic airfares and will see us offer well in excess of one million fares below $100 this year.?
New fares are available online at www.airnz.co.nz. Lead-in fares sell out first and may not be available on all flights.
Source: Air New Zealand