Qantas plea for direct link to U.S.

Press, 23 February 1987, Page 1

Qantas plea for direct link to U.S.

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

Qantas will this week seek Government approval to fly from New Zealand to the United States.

At present the airline is restricted to routes across the Tasman with 36 services a week between Australia and Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

Qantas now wants permission to continue some ‘of these flights beyond New Zealand to Honolulu and cities in North America.

If approval is granted, the airline will be the first to provide a non-stop service between Christchurch and the United States. Air New Zealand now flies from. Christchurch to Honolulu and Los Angeles, but via Fiji.

New Zealand’s tourism Industry stands to- benefit from the move. New Zealand would be able to tap into the -flow of tourists generated by Qantas’ giant marketing machine in North America. Most of these travellers now fly direct to Australia and back on Qantas’ longhaul services.

However, if permitted to offer Auckland and Christchurch as stop-overs on its flights across the Pacific the airline would

actively include New Zealand in its overseas promotions.

Likewise, Australians heading to the United States on Qantas would be encouraged to break their journey for holidays in New Zealand; ; ' • ;i ■ '" — According to conservative estimates, New Zealand could gain an extra 100,000 tourists a year through the Qantas plan.

“New Zealand’s tourism industry will be one of the biggest winners under the new arrangement,” said Mr Ken Boys, the airline’s news media relations manager, when asked to confirm the move in Sydney yesterday. “Our plan will add an important new element of competition to the South Pacific and will probably also trigger a range of fare initiatives.”

Qantas recently initiated a range of cheap fares to London as a result of the Government’s lifting restrictions on selling low-priced tickets in New Zealand. At one stage last year, the airline was also offer-

ing flights from New Zealand to the United States, via Australia, at a cheaper rate than Air New Zealand was charging on its

direct and much shorter flights. The Qantas plan will prove a worry to Air New Zealand which is already fighting strong competition on the Pacific routes from two big American carriers, Continental and United.

Air New Zealand has, however, been successfully competing against Qantas tor trans-Pacific passengers at all fare levels out of Australia for almost 10 years. On some flights between Sydney and North

America, more than a third of Air New Zealand’s passengers see no more of New Zealand than 90 minutes in the transit lounge.

The Goverament-to-Govemment talks on the new air agreement will begin in Wellington tomorrow. It is unlikely any agreement will be reached in the first round.

Air New Zealand’s public relations manager, Mr

Bob Wallace, said last evening he preferred not to comment on the Government talks. The Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore, said he would welcome any plan that would bring more tourists to New Zealand and, equally as important, provide an increase in urgently needed international cargo space. But he emphasised that the Government would not want to see Air New Zealand hurt “Air New Zealand is already facing a savage amount of competition,”

said Mr Moore. "1 am sure the airline would oppose any further threats.” The deal would undoubtedly be subject to negotiation and rights would need to be traded. Qantas now flies to three cities in New Zealand, while Air New Zealand flies to five in Australia. It has also announced that it proposed a service to Cairns in April. This route, however, is still subject to Government approval and has been included on the agenda for the talks tomorrow.