Air New Zealand explains why its domestic fares are nearly $2,000

photo: AFP

A spontaneous weekend getaway in New Zealand isn’t as cheap as it once was.

In the past few years, most domestic tourists would be shocked by the airfares when booking flights for a weekend getaway.

At the time of writing, a flight for two people from Auckland to Christchurch after get off work on Friday August 16, departing at 6pm, and returning at 3pm on Sunday August 18, would cost NZ$1884. This does not include checked luggage, just 7kg of carry-on luggage.

The trip costs $1480 from Christchurch at 10am. The cheapest option is to depart on Friday at 6am for $1020, but this would require taking a day off or working remotely.

Jetstar’s most expensive fare on the same day is $1236 – leaving Auckland at 6:30pm and returning at 8:25pm on Sunday. That’s about $650 cheaper than its rival. Its cheapest fare is $734, leaving Auckland at 9:25am on Friday and returning at 6:15am on Sunday.

In this case, people would leave Auckland on the weekend of August 17 when the All Blacks play Argentina at Eden Park.

It will be cheaper for people coming from Garden City to watch the game.

Similarly, departing Christchurch at 6pm on Friday and arriving home at 3pm would cost $1324. The most expensive option, also arriving home at 6pm, would cost $1554.

Air New Zealand’s cheapest flight is from Christchurch at 8am on Sunday, returning to Christchurch at 1pm, for $878.

Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty told Stuff Travel demand for domestic travel has always been high on weekends, with Friday night and Sunday night traditionally the busiest times of the week.

“We offer a range of price points on any route, with fares from Christchurch to Auckland ranging from $89 to $495 one way. Tickets go on sale 12 months in advance so customers are more likely to find lower prices if they book early.

“As more customers book and flights fill up, fares will rise, reflecting the increased demand for the now fewer remaining seats. In short, it’s a supply and demand driven pricing system, which means that during peak travel periods or around events, lower fares will sell out quickly.

“This approach ensures that seats are available at short notice, as a full sell-out network is not good for the public.”

In July, Consumer New Zealand said Air New Zealand’s flight prices were It has surged 300% in the past five yearsIt compared fares on 11 Air New Zealand flights in 2023 and 2024 with those on equivalent flights from 2019 to 2021 and found all but one were more expensive three or four years later.

Price increases ranged from 34% to 297%.

However, the national carrier called the findings “misleading”.

“The small sample of fares they used reflects two very different operating environments,” Scott Carr, Air New Zealand’s general manager of domestic operations, said last month. “In 2020 and 2021, there was a global pandemic, border closures and, at times, domestic travel restrictions.”

“We have seen a 20% increase in domestic fares from 2020 to 2024. At the same time, the airline is also facing a more than 40% increase in supplier costs.

“According to Statistics New Zealand, domestic airfares have fallen 4 per cent over the past year.”

Statistics New Zealand data for March showed domestic airfares rose 7.4 per cent in February compared with January 2024 and 7.7 per cent compared with February 2023.

Consumer New Zealand found that a return flight for two adults to Hamilton, excluding luggage, booked two days in advance would cost $281.20 in 2021. In 2024, the same flight would cost $1,118.

In 2020, a Christchurch-Dunedin return flight booked five weeks in advance cost $123.60. The same flight in 2023 would cost $344, almost three times as much.

The airline announced the domestic fare increase in April. At the time, acting general manager of domestic routes Jeremy O’Brien said its cost base had risen by more than 30%.

Consumer New Zealand chief executive Jon Duffy told Stuff Travel that beyond costs such as fuel, staff and airport fees, there was still a lot of confusion about the breakdown of airfares for consumers, particularly how dynamic pricing worked.

“New Zealand is also the most concentrated domestic aviation market in the world, so we believe consumers have the right to question whether the prices they see are fair.

“It’s difficult to know if competition in New Zealand’s domestic aviation market is working as it should, but we do know a fair price is what customers are willing to pay. In a highly concentrated market, people have limited choice and are unable to ‘vote with their wallets’ – a healthy consumer behaviour that puts pressure on businesses to compete on price and ultimately plays a role in determining what a ‘fair’ price really means.

Duffy said New Zealanders deserved more transparency into airfare prices and whether competition in the sector was healthy. Duffy called for market research to demystify the domestic airfare market.

– This article was originally published by thing.