Brisbane service up in the air

THE future of Dunedin’s Brisbane air service is unknown following the end of an Air New ZealandVirgin transtasman alliance.

Air New Zealand announced yesterday the alliance would end in October.

The airlines had cooperated on services between New Zealand and Australia since the end of 2010, but regulatory approval expired at the end of October and the parties would not apply for renewal.

Air New Zealand chief revenue officer Cam Wallace said market dynamics on the Tasman route had changed, and the time was right for each airline to focus on its own objectives.

‘‘This move will enable us to deliver a more consistent customer experience by using our own fleet and delivering an improved schedule, which we’ll provide more details about shortly.’’

The Brisbane flight is Dunedin’s only remaining international service and has been run by Virgin, rather than Air New Zealand.

Dunedin Airport marketing and communications general manager Megan Crawford said it was unknown what the effect would be.

Dunedin Airport would continue to work with both partners until it knew what the decision meant for the Brisbane service.

The airport had already had a discussion on the issue with one of the airlines.

Air New Zealand had not given any indication of the future of the flight.

It was important Dunedin worked collaboratively on the issue, Ms Crawford said.

‘‘We’ll work with any airline. ‘‘We just want to bring those visitors in.’’

Ms Crawford said inbound numbers on the flight had improved, after some difficulties recently.

The airport had been doing plenty of work to attract passengers from Australia.

Queenstown Airport Corporation communications manager Jen Andrews said it was too early to say how the decision would affect the airport.