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Air New Zealand is to double services to Adelaide and start a new Queenstown flight to encourage Australian travellers to make long-haul trips with the carrier.
The airline will now fly from Auckland to Adelaide six times a week and will offer a daily flight from February next year, Norm Thompson, Air New Zealand group general manager for short-haul fights, said.
A new direct flight in summer between Queenstown and Melbourne will run each Saturday from December 22 to March 29, meaning Australian passengers won't have to fly via Auckland or Christchurch to reach the ski and hiking destination, Thompson said.
The airline already offers a Melbourne-Queenstown flight during the July to September ski season.
The expanded services may help Air New Zealand tap a larger share of the long-haul market because travellers from South Australia could choose to fly to North America via Auckland rather than Sydney or Melbourne, Thompson said. Qantas will stop flying the Auckland-Adelaide route at the end of July.
