'Bloodbath' looms as Air NZ slashes trans-Tasman fares

[oz_mark]

'Bloodbath' looms as Air NZ slashes trans-Tasman fares | theage.com.au

QANTAS and Air New Zealand are preparing for a "bloodbath" on the highly competitive trans-Tasman route, as they face a looming price war, other rivals increasing their flights and an economy in recession.

In a risky move for the national carrier, Air NZ has slashed fares on its most crucial route, just over a month before Virgin Blue's New Zealand-centric subsidiary, Pacific Blue, begins nine flights a week between Sydney and Auckland. The new services will add about 300,000 seats a year to the route.

 

[JohnK]

Airfares may me discounted initially but then it will be back to business as usual. From what I have seen QF airfares are not that low anyway.

 

[garyjohn951]

12:40
Melbourne 18:00 AucklandQF25 $239

16:25 Auckland 18:20 MelbourneQF134 $200

Outward is 4/11/2008
back to Aussie id 11/11/2008

This is all up on Qantas, $200 back is cheap

 

[dajop]

This is all up on Qantas, $200 back is cheap

No it's not. $165 is cheap. Come in sucker (sorry, no offence meant, just looking at it from the QF perspective.)

Book the AKL-MEL flight on same date from the Qantas NZ website. You'll see the difference, $165AUD is what it works out to be. Always worth looking.

16:25 Auckland 18:20 MelbourneQF134 $199 NZD.

Having said all that .... I get what you're saying, it wasn't too long back that couldn't score NZ for less than $600 return.

 

[garyjohn951]

Having said all that .... I get what you're saying, it wasn't too long back that couldn't score NZ for less than $600 return.

Back in August last year it was $A800+ return.

 

[tuapekastar]

Is the article referring to 'trans-tasman' in general? The 'headline' says so, but the body of the article seems to refer specifically to SYD-AKL.

 

[Mal]

Is the article referring to 'trans-tasman' in general? The 'headline' says so, but the body of the article seems to refer specifically to SYD-AKL.

Looking at prices ex-BNE, it's not all round discounting.

Actually, you can fly QF BNE-SYD-AKL for ~the same price as BNE-AKL... (over $100 cheaper direct from SYD than from BNE)

 

[Wunala Dreaming]

Interestingly Thai Airways is looking at offering a new BKK-BNE-AKL service in place of their nonstop BKK-AKL offering.

BNE-AKL would then have Pacific Blue, Qantas/Jetconnect, Air New Zealand, Thai Airways, Emirates and Royal Brunei all offering regular services.

And with Garuda set to return to Brisbane this year, I wonder if they would be interested in reviving their BNE-AKL service?

It's great to have so much choice!

 

[htchapman]

AirNZ drops trans-tasman fares

Air NZ cuts long-term fares to Australia




Air New Zealand is to cut long-term lead-in fares to Australia by an average of 15 per cent.
Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin customers could benefit from cuts in fares to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Fare reductions were effective from 14 October, the airline said.
Air NZ general manager Tasman Pacific Airline Glen Sowry said prices were dropping to stimulate demand on the highly competitive Tasman market, which has an over supply of capacity.
Air NZ was investing almost $60 million in fitting its fleet of 13 A320 and five Boeing 767 aircraft on Tasman and Pacific Island routes with new personal on-demand in-flight entertainment, which customers were able to watch gate-to-gate, he said.
The 767 and A320 fleets were also being reconfigured to create a new zone in the economy cabin to provide greater legroom for regular Tasman and Pacific Island travellers.
The first of the refitted 767s and A320s were now in service, with the fleet upgrade to be completed by the end of the year.
"Given this significant investment in our Tasman fleet it is imperative that we fly full planes," Mr Sowry said.


Air NZ cuts long-term fares to Australia - 05 Sep 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

 

[serfty]

FWIW, yesterday I booked some QF flights to from NZ in Early December.

MEL-AKL AUD255 (inc. cc fee)
AKL-MEL NZD199 (~AUD165)

also AKL-WLG-AKL NZD110 (~AUD92)