Qantas and Jetstar have announced the resumption of flights to New Zealand from next month. The announcement comes after New Zealand confirmed that it will welcome all Australian travellers from 13th April 2022.
Starting 13th April 2022, Qantas and Jetstar will operate up to 30-flights-a-week between Australia and New Zealand on 5 routes, up from the 2-flights-a-week presently being operated. Prior to the pandemic, both the airlines operated a combined 170-flights-a-week between the two countries.
Qantas will fly daily from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland and Sydney to Christchurch with a mix of its Boeing B737s and wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft. In addition, Jetstar will operate 3-flights-a-week between Gold Coast and Auckland using Airbus A320s.
Qantas and Jetstar will further increase flights during May and June and resume fights from Australia to Queenstown and Wellington.
Related: Qantas to launch nonstop flights to Rome
Connections are available on Jetstar’s New Zealand domestic network of more than 60 return flights per week to 5 destinations. Trans-Tasman flights also connect easily with Qantas’ Australian domestic flight routes and its international network.
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.
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Andrew David, CEO, Qantas – Domestic and International, said:
Qantas and Jetstar are gearing up to help Australia reconnect with New Zealand after more than two years apart, and one short travel bubble. 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.
He added:
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. As a thank you to our frequent flyers for their ongoing loyalty throughout the pandemic, we’ve made every flight across the Tasman for the month of May a Points Plane, which means every seat can be booked using points.
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 fights can also be purchased with cash.
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.
The Australian flag carrier states that it is continuing to offer a Fly Flexible booking policy with unlimited flight date changes available on trans- Tasman flights booked before 30th June 2022 for travel until 31st December 2022 (fare difference may apply).
Meanwhile, Qantas recently announced that it will launch flights to Broken Hill in New South Wales, Australia.
Featured image by Wikimedia Commons
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