Comments on: Cheaper regional flights, oh really?

By: Mikal

Mikal — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:31:15 +0000

I have always had the same feeling about the cost of flying from HB and thought it was a rip off. Thanks for doing the research Rod and for your great article.
I decided to do a little experiment and chose a weekday one week out. Then went on to Air NZ website and checked the cost of flying from several different towns to Auckland and Wellington on that day, choosing the “business” flight in the morning and the mid/late afternoon return. I though I would find a pattern, but was quite surprised with what I found. Here the data in order of price:
Flights to Auckland (and return) from:
Tauranga $346
Hamilton $388
Palmy $440
Nelson $514
HB $516
Wellington $548
Queenstw $748

Flights to Wellington (and return) from:
Nelson $385
Hamilton $463
Palmy $482
Tauranga $502
HB $520
Auckland $548
Queenstw $790

And couldn’t help checking these two out:
HB to Hamilton return $647
HB to Tauranga return $722

By: Shaun Lines

Shaun Lines — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:22:25 +0000

Everytime I need to fly and get the bill, I remember how much I love driving!

Not a good use of time, bad for the environment and often a good way to make the acquaintance of our cops – but flying is expensive and I don’t feel that Air NZ value us as customers.

By: George Miller

George Miller — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:35:39 +0000

Sounds like a Tui billboard in the making.

By: Gareth Pearce

Gareth Pearce — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:16:01 +0000

Rod, I have to agree with you completely. Business & leisure travellers in the regions are being penalized as Air New Zealand subsidizes its main trunk routes due to the stiffer competition it faces.

Until competition arrives into the regions (which seems highly unlikely due to the high setup costs or unless an airline like Pacific Blue or Jetstar service the routes) fares will remain high and impede regular travel.

As I live and work from Waipukurau I have the luxury of, when travelling to Chch or Wgtn, comparing between Palmerston North & Napier. I am about halfway between airports. I most often choose Palmerston North as the fare is atleast 30% cheaper. I haven’t worked out why there is such as a difference especially to Auckland as the distances are about the same.

I really like Air New Zealand for their innovative thinking and marketing. But, I do think that they are very clever at pulling the wool over our eyes. And lets face it, they are not an airline per se’, they are a ‘transport operator’ whose clear objective should be to make air travel affordable for all. Unfortunately, for the regions, we will continue to suffer until either competition arrives or external pressure is placed upon them. In the short to medium term, I believe the later is probably the only option.

By: Marcus Smith

Marcus Smith — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:51:48 +0000

Rod, I was having this exact conversation with some business contacts while in Auckland on Friday. Pick a favourite destination, buy 20 trips up front on a use it or loose it basis over a 24 month period and get it all at a reasonable rate.

I’m sure Air New Zealand could play the unders and overs game and do quite well out of it while at the same time make it better for us traveling from the regions.