Qantas and Jetstar are gearing up to reunite families and friends and take tourists across the Tasman following confirmation that New Zealand will reopen for quarantine free travel to all Australian travellers next month, just in time for the Easter holidays.
From 13 April, Qantas and Jetstar will operate up to 30 return flights per week across the Tasman on five routes, up from the two return flights a week currently being operated. Prior to COVID, Qantas and Jetstar operated more than 170 return services a week between Australia and New Zealand.
Qantas will fly daily from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland and Sydney to Christchurch with a mix of its Boeing 737s and wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft
Jetstar will operate three weekly flights from the Gold Coast to Auckland using its Airbus A320 aircraft.
Qantas and Jetstar will further increase flights during May and June and resume flights from Australia to Queenstown and Wellington.
Connections are available on Jetstar’s New Zealand domestic network of more than 60 return flights per week to five destinations. Trans-Tasman flights also connect seamlessly with Qantas’ Australian domestic flight routes and its extensive international network.
Eligible frequent flyers heading across the Tasman will be able to enjoy pre-flight time in Qantas’ Sydney and Melbourne International First and Business lounges as well as the Brisbane International Lounge.
Qantas continues to offer a Fly Flexible booking policy with unlimited flight date changes available on trans-Tasman flights booked before 30 June for travel until 31 December 2022 (fare difference may apply).
MORE SEATS FOR FREQUENT FLYERS
Throughout May, every Qantas and Jetstar flight will be a Points Plane meaning Frequent Flyers can use Qantas Points to book any seat as a Classic Reward Seat. Seats on these flights can also be purchased with cash.
For the rest of the year Qantas has already increased the availability of seats that can be booked with points on Qantas’ trans-Tasman routes by up to 50 per cent.
Classic Flight Reward seats across the Tasman start from 18,000 points with Qantas and 14,400 with Jetstar plus taxes, fees and carrier charges.
COMMENTARY
Qantas Domestic and International CEO Andrew David said Australians have waited a long time for news that they could travel freely across the Tasman again.
“Qantas and Jetstar are gearing up to help Australia reconnect with New Zealand after more than two years apart, and one short travel bubble,” Mr David said.
“New Zealand was Australia’s second biggest source of international visitors before the pandemic, and Australians were the biggest source of visitors to New Zealand, so this is an important milestone as part of the recovery for both countries. With restriction-free travel possible from next month for Australians, we look forward to rebuilding our trans-Tasman flights.
“We know that testing requirements can deter some people from travelling. As the world shifts to truly living with COVID, it’s important that we normalise travel between Australian and New Zealand by removing layers of testing given the virus is endemic in both countries and both have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
“As a thank you to our frequent flyers for their ongoing loyalty throughout the pandemic, we’ve made every flight across the Tasman for the month of May a Points Plane, which means every seat can be booked using points.”