Jetstar still to decide routes but prices drop

Jetstar is still to decide whether to fly in and out of Rotorua Photo/Stephen Parker

Jetstar is still to decide whether to fly in and out of Rotorua, but the price of flights to-and-from the city has dropped over the past few months.

Air New Zealand dropped its fares between Wellington and Rotorua and Christchurch and Rotorua earlier this month, which followed on from a price-drop for flights from Auckland to Rotorua earlier this year.

The lowest regular fare on the Wellington-Rotorua route had dropped from $101 to $79 while the lead-in fare for the Christchurch-Rotorua route had dropped to $79 from $91.

Air New Zealand spokeswoman Janna Wilkinson said in November 2014, Air New Zealand had announced it would gradually transitionto operating the 50 seat Q300 aircraft in place of the 19-seat Beech aircraft on the Auckland-Rotorua service, allowing them to reduce the cost-base per seat and consequently reduce the lead-in fares on this route.

"At this time the lead-in fare on this route was reduced from $81 to $69 for flights from February this year."

Ms Wilkinson said Air New Zealand had signalled in February it expected planned increases in capacity which would lead to more competitive fares, in order to build demand and this had played out with fare reductions on regional routes throughout New Zealand over the past six months.

However, Jetstar, which is just weeks away from announcing its route, is taking credit for the drops.

Grant Kerr, head of Jetstar New Zealand, said his company was delighted to see fares dropping already.

"We know that when we enter markets, average fares can drop by as much as 40 per cent, so we're delighted to see that, without even announcing destinations or publishinga schedule, Jetstar is already making regional travel much more affordable for Kiwis."

He said as a low fares airline Jetstar's pricing model was about offering the lowest average fares in the market, including having more fares available in the lower fare classes. "The response from our competitor to our planned regional services shows the advantages that competition brings to air travellers and why it's important that Kiwis travelling to or from the regions have a choice of airline when they fly."

Eight new destinations are beingconsidered for the initial launch phase, including Rotorua and Tauranga. Jetstar will announce destinations in the next few weeks, with flights starting in December.