Air New Zealand adds further capacity to regional routes

Air New Zealand is adding hundreds more regional flights to its schedule at the start of 2020 following the withdrawal of Jetstar’s regional services.

The airline will operate an additional 586 one-way flights from January to March on services it operates between Auckland and Napier, New Plymouth, Nelson and Palmerston North, as well as between Nelson and Wellington.

The airline also announced late last month it will be adding an extra 253 one-way services on the same routes in December, reflecting an increase of more than 15,500 extra seats in that month alone.

Details of the additional services for January-March are as follows:

Route SeatsNumber of extra flights
Auckland – Napier 9,172 145
Auckland – New Plymouth 4,300 68
Auckland – Nelson7,512119
Auckland – Palmerston North7,132148
Wellington – Nelson5,344106
Total33,460586
Route

Auckland – Napier

Seats: 9,172

Number of extra flights: 145

Route

Auckland – New Plymouth

Seats: 4,300

Number of extra flights: 68

Route

Auckland – Nelson

Seats: 7,512

Number of extra flights: 119

Route

Auckland – Palmerston North

Seats: 7,132

Number of extra flights: 148

Route

Wellington – Nelson

Seats: 5,344

Number of extra flights: 106

Route

Total

Seats: 33,460

Number of extra flights: 586

Air New Zealand Acting Chief Executive Officer Jeff McDowall says the airline has been working hard to look at how best to utilise its turboprop aircraft and crew to support routes impacted by Jetstar’s withdrawal.

“We’re pleased to be able to get behind regional New Zealand by adding these extra services, particularly during the summer months. These additional services reflect an increase of nearly 50,000 extra seats to and from regional New Zealand from December through to the end of March.”

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