KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand cannot see direct trans-Tasman flights from Hamilton starting again in the foreseeable future.
The airline is suspending its Hamilton to Brisbane service as of April 25. In October, it cancelled its direct flights to Sydney and the Gold Coast during the traditionally lower demand period from March 29 to October 24 this year.
Airline spokesman Glen Sowry says demand has been falling, partly because the road between Hamilton and Auckland has been upgraded, resulting in Waikato passengers travelling to Auckland where the market for trans-Tasman flights is more competitive. He says over the past three months, planes from Hamilton to Brisbane have been flying almost half empty.
"In that time, we have flown the equivalent of 32 empty A320 aircraft between Hamilton and Brisbane. That is clearly unsustainable and in the current environment we cannot afford to fly routes that make substantial losses with no forecast improvement."
Mr Sowry says the yield on the Hamilton-Brisbane service has also been poor, with 94 per cent of the fares being sold as sale or Smart Saver fares. That is a significantly higher percentage than the average on Tasman services.
He says Hamilton Airport and Air New Zealand have been working together to explore ways to keep the Air New Zealand flights but unfortunately this did not meet the losses being incurred.
- NEWSTALK ZB
