Flight check: Queenstown to Christchurch with Air New Zealand

Queenstown Airport. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Stephanie Holmes flies NZ636 Queenstown to Christchurch.

The Plane: Air New Zealand A320-D.

Class: Seat + Bag

Price: Fares start from $59.

Check-in experience: Easy. I checked in online the day before, using the Air NZ smartphone app, then just had to check my bag at Queenstown airport using the self-service kiosk and bag drop.

Flight time: 55 minutes. You take off, tea and coffee are served, then you're landing again. Swift and efficient.

On time: About 10 minutes late leaving because of the plane's late arrival. But we made up a bit of time in the air.

Seat: 22A. The two seats next to me were empty, as were two across the aisle, which provided a good distance between me and the woman in 22F, who sounded like she had the black lung.

My seat was at the window behind the wing, so I could watch the beauty of Queenstown fade into the distance, and see the Southern Alps fade into the Canterbury plains as we approached Christchurch. At least, I would have done, if I hadn't fallen asleep on take off.

Fellow passengers: A mix of international and domestic tourists, plus Cantabrians returning home.

Entertainment: It was the first of the month so there was a brand new copy of the inflight magazine.

Service: Cameron and his team of two cabin crew were friendly and efficient. And didn't disturb me while I slept, which was appreciated.

Food and drink: Standard tea, coffee, chocolate chip cookie and barbecue vege chips offering. I missed out on my allocation because of the aforementioned napping.

Toilets: As above, I'm afraid I slept for more or less the whole 55 minutes, so I didn't frequent the toilets.

Luggage: 23kg of checked luggage and 7kg of hand luggage. Standard; ample.

Airport experience: Queenstown Airport is excellent. There's a good variety of shops to browse, a great cafe/bar and plenty of seating with great views of the Remarkables.

Christchurch Airport was pretty quiet when I arrived so it was a breeze getting my bag and getting out of there.

Would I fly again: Absolutely - it's a much more efficient way of crossing the South Island, but you still get some great views. If you can keep your eyes open, of course.