Airlines offering more flights, cheaper fares

Press, 5 July 1988, Page 4

Airlines offering more flights, cheaper fares

By

LES BLOXHAM, travel editor

More flights and cheaper fares face travellers in New Zealand over the weeks ahead.

Both Ansett New Zealand and Air New Zealand are planning to introduce additional aircraft to their jet fleets, and Ansett is offering ultra-cheap standby fares between Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland. For instance, passengers prepared to take their chance of getting a seat can now fly from Christchurch to Wellington for $39, or from Christchurch to Auckland for $69. These fares are available only if an aircraft has seats empty immediately before departure. They cannot be booked in advance.

Air New Zealand’s

cheapest super-thrifty fares to Wellington cost $57 and to Auckland, $99. (The airline also has a $66 “red-eye” special fare from Christchurch to Auckland, but it is available only on one flight in the middle of Sunday night.) However, all these fares can be booked in advance. Ansett also introduced yesterday cheap fares to Queenstown ($99 return from Christchurch) and Rotorua ($169 return). They will be available until August 18. The cheapest comparative fares on Mount Cook Airlines are $136 return to Queenstown and $lBO return to Rotorua.

Neither Air New Zealand nor Mount Cook Airlines have any immediate plans to match Ansett’s low stand-by fares. “We are already offering a good range of fare initiatives — we are quite happy,” said a spokesman for Air New Zealand.

However, the airline will' apply further competitive pressure on Ansett next month when it adds 50 domestic flights a week to its schedules. The airline is acquiring an additional Boeing 737

— its eleventh — to enable it to boost frequency. The second-hand aircraft, a 200 series,

will probably be brought from Royal Brunei Airlines.

Air New Zealand plans to provide more than 500 peak-hour seats daily between Auckland and Wellington. Christchurch will get two extra flights to Auckland with three on Mondays.

These will boost direct services between Auckland and Christchurch to about 15 a day.

Ansett also will be introducing more flights. It has just taken delivery of an additional two Boeing 737 s — both the bigger, newer series-200 models. The airline now has six 8737 s and two de Havilland Dash-Bs.