Cooks route for Pacific Blue

Pacific Blue, the New Zealand wing of Australian cut-price airline Virgin Blue, plans to start flying to the Cook Islands.

The airline intends the route to be part of a service leaving Australia, then landing in Christchurch where it can pick up or drop off passengers before heading to the Cook Islands.

It will break a monopoly on the New Zealand-Cook Islands at present held by Air New Zealand.

Airline spokesman David Huttner said it hoped to offer cheaper tickets and services that did not arrive or depart in the middle of the night.