Entertainment
6 April, 2021
Pack your jandals, Kiwi holidays are back
To help more Australians and New Zealanders reunite after a year apart, Qantas and Jetstar will restart flying to all pre-COVID destinations in New Zealand when the two-way Trans-Tasman bubble opens later this month.
Qantas will also launch two new routes direct from Auckland to Cairns and the Gold Coast, providing travellers with more options for holidays in Queensland and New Zealand.
From 19 April 2021, Qantas and Jetstar will initially operate up to 122 return flights per week across the Tasman on 15 routes, offering more than 52,000 seats each week.
Qantas Frequent Flyer will also boost the number of Classic Reward seats for frequent flyers, making all seats in all cabins across Qantas and Jetstar flights for the first three days available as a Classic Flight redemption. For the remainder of 2021, frequent flyers will also enjoy access to 50 per cent more Classic Flight Reward seats on Qantas’ trans-Tasman routes.
Qantas Domestic and International CEO, Andrew David, said Australia has always had an incredibly close relationship with New Zealand but in the past 12 months it’s never felt further away.
“Restarting flights to New Zealand is about more than starting to rebuild our international network, it’s about reconnecting families and friends and getting more of our people back flying again,” Mr David said.
“Hopefully, stories of missed weddings and birthdays on either side of the ditch will now be a thing of the past.
“We know Australians are keen to head overseas again, so we expect strong demand for flights to New Zealand and there are many Kiwis who can’t wait for a winter escape to warmer weather in Australia.”
As part of the existing one-way bubble, the Qantas Group has been operating less than 3 per cent of its pre-COVID capacity on the Trans-Tasman. Flights announced today will see this increase to 83 per cent – a level that reflects a high level of expected demand for what will be Australia’s only international destination for at least the next six months, moderated by the fact that international tourists (beyond Australia and New Zealand) normally account for about 20 per cent of the passengers flying between the two countries.
