Australian low-cost carrier, Jetstar Airways has announced it will start flying between Dunedin and Wellington from October.
The airline will commence service between the capital and Otago’s biggest city from October 28, 2015 three-times-weekly, and will be Jetstar’s sixth domestic jet route in New Zealand.
Services will depart Wellington on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 11:10am, with the return service departing Dunedin at 12:55pm.
Jetstar Head of New Zealand, Grant Kerr, said customers had regularly requested the airline add a Wellington-Dunedin service to bring more competitive fares to the route.
“We’re looking forward to linking the two cities and offering students, leisure and business travellers a low fares option for airline travel,” he said.
The new service will add 56,000 seats to Wellington’s domestic market and will provide onward connections to Australia.
“Jetstar have listened to the market and this is a popular route for business, students, and leisure travellers. It will provide more choice and better prices for those wanting to travel direct between the lower North Island and Otago,” said Steve Sanderson, Wellington Airport’s Chief Executive.
The airline has also announced it will be adding its widebody Boeing 787 aircraft to its trans-Tasman schedule over the upcoming Christmas holiday season, along with extra summer flying to Queenstown from Australia, with an extra 10,000 seats being offered between December and January compared with last year.
The airline will also add more than 5,000 extra seats between Christchurch and Melbourne over the Christmas period.
"Queenstown is truly a year-round holiday destination and we're recognising that by adding a significant number of extra seats this summer," Grant Kerr said. "This complements the additional flying we added during the ski season this year."
In June this year, Jetstar announced that it would be starting services to four regional destinations in December, using QantasLink Q300 turbo-prop aircraft.