In a move to cement its position as the leader in low cost flights to Queenstown, budget airline Jetstar has slashed fares, introduced new routes, and increased the frequency of existing routes to and from the resort town.
Starting December 22 Jetstar will kick off a variety of new services and routes aimed at grabbing the maximum market share of weekend travellers to Queenstown.
Among these new routes include a brand new twice weekly service from Sydney to Queenstown. The Sydney service will replace an existing twice weekly service between Queenstown and the Gold Coast, which will be phased out by November 8. In addition to the new Sydney service, Jetstar is adding extra flights to their Queenstown-Melbourne and Queenstown-Auckland services.
The price of the daily service to and from Wellington has been slashed down to $79. Compare this with the cost of an Air New Zealand flight between Queenstown and Wellington which, if booked on December 22, will cost $266 for a direct flight and $147 for one with a stopover in Christchurch.
According to Jetstar chief executive David Hall, the airline is looking to create demand for increased volume of regional flights to and from Queenstown with their aggressive pricing.
"Queenstown is one of the region's premier tourist spots and we're very pleased to be increasing domestic and international links as part of our overall commitment to the New Zealand market."
Hall adds that Jetstar is in it for the long haul, and insists that the company will maintain their Queenstown routes for a long time, stating: “I think it will be a very supported service and the vast majority of services we enter we stay on those services.”
News of this increased air service to and from Queenstown is not lost to authorities on the ground. Tourism officials hope that competition between regional airlines will boost domestic tourism and increase spending by regional and international visitors. Wellington City Council economy portfolio leader Jo Coughlan welcomed Jetstar's announcement as great news, stating that it would bring economic benefits to city thanks to the increased volume of people "hubbing" through Wellington Airport on their way to and from Queenstown.
Officials in Queenstown were also positive on the new routes. Destination Queenstown boss Tony Everitt states that his organisation has been actively marketing to Wellingtonians, Aucklanders and Sydneysiders to take advantage of these new low-cost fares.
“These extra flights will make it even easier for visitors to access the resort and enjoy all the activities on offer.”