Airline listing NZ flights
JETSTAR Australia is listing multiple cheap Gold CoastNew Zealand flights to tourism hotspot Queenstown from August 16, lifting hopes of a trans-Tasman travel bubble.
The airline has dozens of flights listed on its website between the two tourism capitals. Early on Wednesday they included multiple options from August 1-15 but those have since been removed.
But flights from the Gold Coast, starting at $228 with return fares as low as $253, still remain from August 16. Some flights in the now delisted bunch were already listed as “sold out”. It’s understood they are listed to gauge demand.
A Jetstar Australia spokesman said on Wednesday the company was doing monthly reviews of services, and confirmed the August 1-15 return flights were now delisted. But August 16 flights remained.
“As soon as we cancel a flight, we contact customers via email and offer them a range of options,’’ he said.
“The email they receive informing them of cancellation explains the process and steps to follow online to apply for a credit voucher or alternative options, which depending on the circumstances include an alternative flight at no additional charge, or refund.”
There were hopes this week that airports nationwide would be able to have flights to NZ in a COVID-19 “trans-Tasman bubble”. NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday the decision would come down to the Australian Government, though NZ would not allow travel anywhere with community transmission. But it has since been put on ice due to coronavirus outbreaks in Victoria.
The Gold Coast Airport is bracing for an influx of domestic flights when the Queensland border opens to all states except Victoria on July 10. It was revealed last month that the gateway to the city’s tourism mecca had all but dried up, with just three commercial flights a week.
When asked about the flight outlook with borders reopening, Queensland Airports CEO Chris Mills said: “We are already seeing an increase in airline capacity to and from Gold Coast Airport.
“When the border is set to reopen, we are expecting to see several daily services to and from the Gold Coast to destinations including Sydney, Canberra and Newcastle.
“The number of flights and available domestic destinations are expected to change in days and weeks after the border opens, as demand materialises. Based on flight schedules, we are pleased to see Qantas will be returning to the Gold Coast from July 10, joining Jetstar and Virgin Australia, which are already servicing the region.”
Mr Mills said research indicated there was demand for travel to the Coast, particularly in the winter weather.
“However, the recovery to pre-COVID-19 passenger levels will take time. We don’t expect a return to the flight schedules we saw before the pandemic for quite some time.”
Airports and airlines have used downtime to develop a domestic passenger journey protocol for the restart of domestic travel, recently endorsed by the Federal Government.
A Qantas spokesperson said it would operate a daily Sydney-Gold Coast Boeing 737 flight from July 10 and would monitor demand and add additional services as required.
Virgin is expected to give an update today on Coast flights. “We welcome the decision to reopen borders. We’re looking forward to bringing tourists safely back and supporting the vital tourism industry,” a Virgin spokesperson said.