New York return for $1499: Qantas fires hot shot in airfare battle to the US

Qantas is swooping on New Zealand with sale fares targeting Kiwis, including a $1499 return deal between Auckland and New York.

The airline has launched overnight a global sale for the next 10 days - the third time it has targeted Kiwi travellers with discounted fares this year as it more aggressively targets the New Zealand market.

Qantas is offering fares over winter that include Auckland to New York return flights for $1499 in Economy class and transtrasman fares for $549.

Other international fares from New Zealand are attractive but will require a flight across the Tasman to connect with another one.

The long-haul deals include:

• London $2752
• Paris $2599
• Tokyo (Haneda) $1099
• Los Angeles $1199
• Johannesburg $1949
• Seoul $1099
• Hong Kong $1199
• Bengaluru (India) $1589
• Singapore $1549

Fares are available from three of New Zealand’s main gateways, with all departing from Auckland and some fares from Wellington and Christchurch.

Selected travel dates and days apply, and fares may not be available on all flights or days and blackout periods - typically over the school holidays - apply.

The New York deals come as the airline marks nearly a year of flying directly from Auckland to the Big Apple. Its inaugural QF3 flight, which originates in Sydney, took off last June 14 and pitted the airline directly against Air New Zealand.

Although the Kiwi airline had a nine-month head start, it is still flying just three times a week to New York as it faces aircraft shortages, while Qantas has increased its frequency to four times a week and has plans to fly more often.

The Qantas $1499 promotional offer starts this month and runs through to March next year.

In Economy, the sale fares are available from May 15 to June 12, July 17 to August 19, October 7 to December 4 and January 20 to March 26.

Premium Economy sale fares run from : May 20 to June 12, July 17 to August 12, September 16 to December 4 and January 22 to March 26.

Business is on sale from July 1 to December 4.

A price snapshot of Air New Zealand’s website shows a flight booked this weekend for the end of this month costs about double that.

Air New Zealand is under attack from other airlines on routes to the United States, with giants including Delta, American Airlines and United flying through the New Zealand winter. In a market update, Air NZ said increased competition was a reason for cutting its full-year underlying earnings forecast.

Two of its 14 Boeing 787 Dreamliners are out of action because of delays with heavy maintenance of their Rolls-Royce engines.

Qantas last month said it was beefing up its presence in New Zealand.

It will pass rival Air New Zealand with regard to seat capacity out of Christchurch with new flights from later this year as it builds connections to its fast growing long-haul network.

The Australian airline already outstrips Air New Zealand for international seats out of Wellington, and its head of international says more flights could be on the way.

“We are flying more people across the Tasman than we did pre-Covid, with up to 180 return flights each week. We’ll continue to look for opportunities to grow it further where there is demand,” said Cam Wallace, head of Qantas international and freight and a former Air New Zealand executive.

His airline is adding more transtasman flights in response to strong demand from customers travelling to New Zealand.

From late October, it will add up to 260,000 additional seats across three of its transtasman routes over 12 months, compared to its current schedule.

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism