Affordable Fiji

By VICTORIA BARTLE

A dogfight over flights to Fiji is slashing hundreds of dollars off the cost of package holidays - some plummeting to $399 a person for seven nights.

Just when you think you've heard about a perfect deal, another package is offered - same money, better conditions - proving it pays to check all the details and shop around.

The flurry of deals stems from Flight Centre's new business partnership with the Auckland-based charter company Airwork. Airwork's Boeing 737-300 will fly to Fiji five times a week from the middle of next month.

The Airwork venture is in response to a demand for affordable holidays to Fiji, says Flight Centre's managing director Graeme Moore.

It is "no secret" that the company has found it difficult to secure enough seats for customers wanting to travel on popular routes recently.

Travel agencies offering the cheap fares and packages are recording "snowballing" sales, he says.

House of Travel has teamed with Air New Zealand to join the price war, which last week saw Flight Centre offer a book-early $399 deal.

(For details, see Last-minute deals, D2.)

Standard Flight Centre packages start at $499 a person, based on four people sharing the accommodation, and twin-share packages start at $599 a person.

Accommodation choices range from budget-by-the-airport to "three-star" hotels (from $1499 a person) on mainland Fiji and along its Coral Coast to resorts on Plantation and Sonaisali Islands.

Airwork's 737 was once part of the Ansett Australia fleet. While it might not carry a recognisable insignia on its tail wing, those catching the charter flights can still expect in-flight movies, free food and beverages, including wine and beer.

The aircraft will make two departures from Auckland, and one each from Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch each week.

House of Travel and Air New Zealand also offer seven-night $499 deals but, says managing director Chris Paulsen in Christchurch, their $499 deal is for twin-share, beach-side accommodation, not quad-share.

"All short-haul holidays under 3 1/2 hours' flying have gone value-based in price on the other side of the world. It was inevitable these sorts of deals would come to the Tasman destinations," says Paulsen.

"Over the next couple of years, I believe all short-haul services from New Zealand will be value-based.

"It follows on that, if you increase the frequency of flights and lower the costs, you increase the demand."

The managing director of Itchyfeet Travel in Auckland, Justin Burke, believes the price plunge "mostly stems from the threat of Richard Branson's Virgin Pacific", and the possibility his airline is striving to be "the only carrier to fly all around the world".

The short-haul, cheap-fares model have proved hugely successful in Britain and Europe and, more recently, in Australia, with Virgin Blue.

"I think cheap fares are definitely here to stay."