Air New Zealand announces $100 domestic seat sale in absence of Aussies

Air New Zealand's domestic network is now larger than pre-Covid. Photo / File

Air New Zealand has added an additional 300,000 spring airfares across its domestic network for $100 or less.

These airfares will be along some of the most popular routes in the network between September and November. With a seat sale running until Thursday, the airline hopes to encourage Kiwis to take an early summer break and - weather permitting - maybe even squeeze in a late season trip to the South Island ski fields.

Air New Zealand has also added a quarter of a million extra domestic seats from mid-August until October to connect more Kiwi leisure travellers with the regions.

Queenstown will see a huge 45000 extra inbound tickets with Hawke's Bay's Napier airport and Nelson seeing around 16,000-17,000 each.

"It's heartwarming to see Kiwis are getting out and about supporting our regions," said the airline's chief sales officer Leanne Geraghty.

Air New Zealand said the additional seats are in response to demand and take the network to above pre-Covid levels.

"It's not surprising that our customers are making the most of it," said Geraghty.

This seat sale comes hot on the heels of the Tasman Bubble suspension.

With the eight-week suspension of quarantine-free flights with Australia lasting until 17 September at the earliest - air links with our closest neighbour are again subject to restrictions.

"We're working very closely with the government to let them know what sort of demand we're seeing out of the states," said CEO Greg Foran on Friday

The Air New Zealand boss told the Herald that they would add necessary seats to return New Zealanders during the week-long clemency window. However, adding more 'managed return' flights from NSW would be difficult - given the scarcity of MIQ spaces.

"Unfortunately those are relatively limited and have been for some time."

International leisure travel has not come to a complete halt, with the Cook Islands seeing a huge uptick.

Rarotonga has seen the addition of 25 percent extra seats from Auckland to meet the demand for midwinter sun.