Qantas and Jetstar to Substantially Increase Flights to New Zealand

(18 Mar 2022, 11:18 +07)  Following confirmation that New Zealand will reopen its borders for quarantine free travel to Australian travellers next month, Qantas and Jetstar have confirmed they will operate up to 30 return flights per week across the Tasman on five routes, effective 13 April 2022.

This marks a substantial increase on the two return flights currently being operated by the two airlines.

Prior to COVID19, Qantas and Jetstar operated more than 170 return services a week between Australia and New Zealand.

Qantas will fly daily from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland and Sydney to Christchurch with a mix of Boeing 737s and wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft.

Qantas Airbus A330 reg: VH-EBJ. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com

Jetstar will operate thrice weekly flights from the Gold Coast to Auckland using Airbus A320 aircraft.

Qantas and Jetstar are planning to further increase flights in May and June, and resume flights from Australia to Queenstown and Wellington.

Eligible frequent flyers heading across the Tasman will be able to enjoy pre-flight time in Qantas’ Sydney and Melbourne International First and Business lounges as well as the Brisbane International Lounge.

“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. With restriction-free travel possible from next month for Australians, we look forward to rebuilding our trans-Tasman flights,” said Qantas Domestic and International CEO, Andrew David. “We know that testing requirements can deter some people from travelling. As the world shifts to truly living with COVID, it’s important that we normalise travel between Australian and New Zealand by removing layers of testing given the virus is endemic in both countries and both have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world.”

Throughout May, every Qantas and Jetstar flight will be a Points Plane meaning Frequent Flyers can use Qantas Points to book any seat as a Classic Reward Seat. Seats on these flights can also be purchased with cash.

For the rest of the year Qantas has already increased the availability of seats that can be booked with points on Qantas’ trans-Tasman routes by up to 50 per cent.

Classic Flight Reward seats across the Tasman start from 18,000 points with Qantas and 14,400 with Jetstar plus taxes, fees and carrier charges.

Qantas also continues to offer a Fly Flexible booking policy with unlimited flight date changes available on trans-Tasman flights booked before 30 June for travel until 31 December 2022. Fare differences may apply.