Virgin, Air NZ, boost Tasman summer schedule

Alliance partners Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia plan to increase flights to Queenstown and Christchurch over the summer months.

The two carriers say there will up to seven extra services a week between Australia and Queenstown between November and March, representing a 50 per cent increase in seats compared with the prior year.

“All aircraft operating trans-Tasman services into Queenstown now have Required Navigation Performance (RNP) technology on board, allowing them to take off and land in low visibility conditions which have traditionally caused schedule disruptions in the region,” Air NZ said on Wednesday.

In a further boost to South Island services, Virgin and Air NZ will also add up to seven more flights a week between Australia and Christchurch, lifting capacity by 13 per cent compared with the prior year.

As part of the change, the airlines will have both morning and evening services between Christchurch and Sydney every day.

Air NZ chief sales and commercial officer Cam Wallace said he was pleased to have the Christchurch market growing again.

“We believe this additional capacity to two of our key South Island ports will appeal to both leisure and business travellers with convenient onward connections to our domestic network,” Wallace said in a statement.