Air New Zealand cuts Christchurch - Rotorua fares
To stimulate tourism Air New Zealand has today cut airfares on many regional routes, including Christchurch - Rotorua which has seen a reduction in seat-only fares by up to 18 percent.
The decision follows a special invitation only Think Regional' tourism forum held last week to identify ways in which Air New Zealand can work with regional areas to fast-track achievable tourism growth strategies.
Air New Zealand Group General Manager short Haul Airlines, Bruce Parton, said it was the first event of its type and was attended by representatives from Rotorua, Nelson, New Plymouth, Blenheim, Hawke's Bay, Tauranga and Queenstown. He said Rotorua was selected due to its strong track record of constructive engagement with Air New Zealand and others in the industry to collectively grow tourism.
We gained a great deal of insight from discussions with Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters, Destination Rotorua Marketing General Manager Oscar Nathan and Rotorua Airport Chief Executive George White who represented the region. We talked through both ideas and challenges that we could improve upon through working together better. It is in all of our best interests to improve domestic tourism for New Zealanders, who make up more than half of regional tourism visitors, said Mr Parton.
One immediate action we have taken from the feedback is to reduce fares to make leisure travel even more attractive. This will not only help tourism numbers, but regional travellers will also benefit from these fare reductions.
An example of seat-only regional fare changes (one way, per person) between Christchurch and Rotorua is an 18% drop from the current $109 fare to $89.
The new fares are available online from Air New Zealand today for travel from 15 October.
Air New Zealand is committed to the millions of passengers we fly into regional New Zealand, and we're working with these regions on a range of long term strategies, including how our US$161m investment in new ATR72-600 aircraft to fly regional routes can best be utilised. The first of these aircraft will be delivered in October, Mr Parton said.
We have been growing regional passenger numbers by an average 5.1% annually since 2003, and plan to continue our investment to support similar future growth.