More competition on transtasman flights should be a win for consumers – Editorial

Jetstar will begin flying to Hamilton and Dunedin again.

EDITORIAL

Kiwis in Hamilton and Dunedin looking to head across the Tasman are set to have the welcome return of Jetstar flights – and airline competition.

The new Hamilton Jetstar service will be the fourth attempt to make a success of a direct transtasman crossing in 30 years.

The Qantas subsidiary will offer four return flights a week between Hamilton and Sydney, and three a week between Hamilton and the Gold Coast, from June next year.

Dunedin Airport, meanwhile, has been without direct international flights since March 2020, sparking vocal commentary from locals.

Jetstar will operate three departures and three arrivals a week out of Dunedin, from June 24, 2025, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The competition should put downward pressure on the cost of transtasman travel.

Just ask many Kiwis living where one carrier has a stranglehold on routes and you’ll hear they feel ripped off by the price of flights.

Hamilton airport chief executive Mark Morgan said aside from the lure of low-cost fares, what should appeal to locals is not having to drive to and from Auckland Airport, “not losing half a day in the process”, and lower parking costs at Hamilton.

“That’s what we think is the huge advantage. The fares will be competitive – very competitive – but of more importance is the convenience factor... without the challenge of the congestion getting to Auckland and the congestion through Auckland Airport. We think there’s an opportunity there,” Morgan told the Herald this week.

The teams at the Hamilton and Dunedin airports deserve plaudits for getting the new flights locked in but Kiwis should by no means be satisfied with the state of the market right now.

A survey in May showed that New Zealanders regard the domestic airfare market as the least competitive.

The Horizon Research poll of 1020 adults found that 75% of respondents considered the domestic aviation market – overwhelmingly dominated by Air New Zealand – to be the least competitive, behind the usual targets: supermarkets, banks and petrol companies.

Where there is more airline competition – on international routes – respondents were less unhappy, putting it as the fifth-most-competitive of the 12 sectors surveyed.

The poll shows domestic passengers are disenchanted but the future of flying around the country isn’t looking much better, at least in the short term.

As the Herald argued in May, a market study that reviewed airline behaviour and competition was worthy of the Government’s consideration. It would at least shine a spotlight and could suggest a practical path forward in efforts to have Kiwis get a better deal when it comes to the cost of air travel.