Editorial: Jetstar plays a blinder

Jetstar has said no to Rotorua.

After a long, and what would seem a very clever, public relations and marketing campaign, Jetstar has finally said no to Rotorua and won't be flying into the city as part of its new regional service.

The media attention this move has received is nothing short of a masterstroke, with seven cities fighting it out for the privilege of Jetstar flying into their patch.

One can only imagine the deals and incentives the lucky four offered the airline.

A cynical person would think this was a done deal from the start. What sort of company would go into a country without a business plan already in place?

And with the corporate muscle of Qantas behind them, I'm sure Jetstar had a pretty good idea of what they wanted to do months ago.

Well played the bright spark who came up with the idea of getting those regions competing with each other to leverage the best possible deals they could get out of them.

Congratulations Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth and Palmerston North. Commiserations to Rotorua, Hamilton and Invercargill.

Tauranga also decided to give it a go, making it the unofficial eighth contender.

But the city was not named as one of the prospective seven cities Jetstar were looking to fly to anyway. So I'm not sure why they even bothered.

It seems as if no one here is overly disappointed.

After all, Rotorua officials had their hearts set on a regional link with Queenstown and Jetstar made it reasonably clear that service was not on its radar.

We are constantly reminded by council officials that they are looking at working with anyone who shows an interest in Rotorua.

This could see Ewan Wilson's new airline flying into Rotorua.

But I would not hold my breath.