March 17, 2022 | By Bronwen Largier
Qantas has announced that it will fly up to 30 return services a week between Australia and New Zealand through its Qantas and Jetstar airlines as soon as New Zealand’s border reopens to Australians next month.
From April 13, Qantas will fly daily from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland and Sydney to Christchurch while Jetstar will operate three weekly flights from the Gold Coast to Auckland.
Currently just two return flights are being operated weekly between Australia and New Zealand.
However, even with the substantial ramp up in services, the combined aviation capacity remains well below the 170 return services per week that Qantas and Jetstar were operating prior to the pandemic.
Further flights will be added during May and June, with routes between Australia and Queenstown and Wellington set to restart.
“New Zealand was Australia’s second biggest source of international visitors before the pandemic, and Australians were the biggest source of visitors to New Zealand, so this is an important milestone as part of the recovery for both countries,” said Qantas domestic and international CEO Andrew David.
“With restriction-free travel possible from next month for Australians, we look forward to rebuilding our trans-Tasman flights.”