Dunedin flights to capital cut
More flights to Queenstown
DUNEDIN’S air service to other centres has suffered a rare setback.
Jetstar has pulled its thriceweekly flights to Wellington, though the airline has increased flights between Wellington and Queenstown.
The Dunedin service was introduced in 2015, one of a series of increased flights that meant Dunedin Airport hosted more than 1 million passengers in a 12month period for the first time last January.
Jetstar announced this week it would suspend the flights between Wellington and Dunedin. The final service would be on May 29.
Chief customer officer Catriona Larritt said the airline had been operating on the route for nearly three and ahalf years, ‘‘and we’ve appreciated the support we’ve received from local travellers and airports. However, the route has not performed as we’d hoped’’.
Passengers with bookings after May 29 would be contacted and offered alternative services via Auckland, or a full refund.
Jetstar’s AucklandDunedin schedule of eight return services a week was unchanged.
Dunedin Airport chief executive Richard Roberts said he was disappointed with the news, but understood the airline’s position.
‘‘The Wellington route is a particularly difficult one to sustain and we appreciate that the airline needs to look at what routes make economic sense.
‘‘We have worked with Jetstar since the launch of the Wellington route to promote both the service and the destinations, but unfortunately this hasn’t been enough to retain the service.’’ Airport business development general manager Megan Crawford said the Wellington market was usually a business market, and leisure traffic was difficult to generate.
The Jetstar service was more aligned to the leisure market, as it took off later in the day, rather than the earlymorning flights business people usually took.
Ms Crawford said there would still be plenty of flights to and from Wellington through Air New Zealand.
Jetstar said it would increase flights between Wellington and Queenstown.
Ms Larritt said from late October, it would double services to six return flights a week.