Visitors to New Zealand's regional centres might be interested to know that Jetstar New Zealand has just announced regional flying in New Zealand on Q300 aircraft commencing in December. Routes currently being assessed are Hamilton, Palmerston North, Napier, New Plymouth, Nelson and Invercargill. All flights will be linked to Jetstar's existing network.
I believe they'll be operated by Qantaslink on a couple of the spare 300s. AirNZ have been killing on these routes so it will be interesting to see it all play out. A little competition will go a long way
This is great news because the regional AirNZ fares can be pretty ridiculous, a 30min flight from WLG to PMR costs over $150.. plus you'll get to earn QF points and SC on these too presumably if you book on the Starter Plus or Starter Max fares.
And fingers crossed some nicer connections with QF and EK - got a flight from SYD to PMR next week with a 4hr connection in CHC..
In addition to direct regional flights domestic and international connections are offered including:
Domestic and international connections
Jetstar domestic connections (To/From – via Auckland or Wellington. On sale 31 Aug 2015.)
Nelson............................... Christchurch, New Plymouth, Napier
Napier................................ Christchurch, Dunedin, New Plymouth, Nelson, Wellington, Queenstown
New Plymouth.................... Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, Wellington, Queenstown
Palmerston North................ Christchurch, Nelson, Wellington (Also to Dunedin and Queenstown outbound)
Jetstar International connections (To/From – via Auckland or Wellington. On sale 31 Aug 2015.)
All regions.......................... Melbourne, Gold Coast, Sydney
Jetstar/Qantas International connections (To/From – via Auckland or Wellington. On sale 1 Sep 2015.)
Napier, Palmerston North.... Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth (Purchase on Qantas.com)
New Plymouth, Nelson........ Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane (Purchase on Qantas.com)
Regional aircraft information
Jetstar’s fleet of five 50--seat Bombardier Q300 aircraft will be based in Auckland and operated on behalf of Jetstar by Qantas-owned Eastern Australia Airlines. In addition to the new livery the aircraft interiors are being refreshed with new leather seating to match Jetstar’s Airbus A320 fleet. Standard seat pitch is a generous 32 inches. Carry-on baggage is a maximum of 7 kg.
aklrunway
aklrunway
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 09 May 2011
Total posts 180
Visitors to New Zealand's regional centres might be interested to know that Jetstar New Zealand has just announced regional flying in New Zealand on Q300 aircraft commencing in December. Routes currently being assessed are Hamilton, Palmerston North, Napier, New Plymouth, Nelson and Invercargill. All flights will be linked to Jetstar's existing network.
FrequentFlyer
FrequentFlyer
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 20 Mar 2012
Total posts 198
I believe they'll be operated by Qantaslink on a couple of the spare 300s. AirNZ have been killing on these routes so it will be interesting to see it all play out. A little competition will go a long way
deany83
deany83
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 21 Jul 2014
Total posts 36
They'll be using some of the 300s currently stored in Tamworth. Will be interesting to see what they look like in Jetstar colours.
deany83
deany83
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 21 Jul 2014
Total posts 36
Well apparently they will look like this: http://newsroom.jetstar.com/jetstar-to-bring-low-fares-to-regional-new-zealand/
alansu
alansu
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 22 Jan 2015
Total posts 88
This is great news because the regional AirNZ fares can be pretty ridiculous, a 30min flight from WLG to PMR costs over $150.. plus you'll get to earn QF points and SC on these too presumably if you book on the Starter Plus or Starter Max fares.
And fingers crossed some nicer connections with QF and EK - got a flight from SYD to PMR next week with a 4hr connection in CHC..
BizTraveller
BizTraveller
Air New Zealand - NZ*E
Member since 17 May 2015
Total posts 41
Heres an update on the Jetstar NZ regional routes mentioned above:
http://www.jetstar.com/nz/en/nzregional
http://newsroom.jetstar.com/jetstar-launches-low-fares-to-nelson-napier-new-plymouth-and-palmerston-north/
Direct routes
Start date
Schedule
Launch sale^
Regular lead-in fare^
Nelson-Auckland
1 Dec 2015*
27 flights per week
$9
$49
Napier-Auckland
1 Dec 2015*
27 flights per week
$9
$49
New Plymouth-Auckland
1 Feb 2016*
27 flights per week
$9
$45
Palmerston North-Auckland
1 Feb 2016*
27 flights per week
$9
$49
Nelson-Wellington
1 Feb 2016*
21 flights per week
$9
$45
Connecting services*: Domestic and International
In addition to direct regional flights domestic and international connections are offered including:
Domestic and international connections
Jetstar domestic connections (To/From – via Auckland or Wellington. On sale 31 Aug 2015.)
Jetstar International connections (To/From – via Auckland or Wellington. On sale 31 Aug 2015.)
Jetstar/Qantas International connections (To/From – via Auckland or Wellington. On sale 1 Sep 2015.)
Regional aircraft information
Jetstar’s fleet of five 50--seat Bombardier Q300 aircraft will be based in Auckland and operated on behalf of Jetstar by Qantas-owned Eastern Australia Airlines. In addition to the new livery the aircraft interiors are being refreshed with new leather seating to match Jetstar’s Airbus A320 fleet. Standard seat pitch is a generous 32 inches. Carry-on baggage is a maximum of 7 kg.
BizTraveller
BizTraveller
Air New Zealand - NZ*E
Member since 17 May 2015
Total posts 41
Sorry - the above post looks like its lost some of the formatting from the embedded table. But I think you get the picture.