More airlines can lock in NZ return as border opens
The full border reopening being brought forward will see more airlines locking in their return to New Zealand – but we likely still won’t see them ramp up their schedules until the end of the year, travel experts say.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday announced New Zealand’s border would reopen to all tourists and visa holders on July 31. The date had previously been set for sometime in October.
While many international airlines have already returned to New Zealand or signalled their intention to return, the announcement means airlines from non-visa waiver countries can be added to the mix.
Board of Airline Representatives of New Zealand executive director Justin Tighe-Umbers said the announcement meant airlines could ‘‘put the final pieces of the puzzle together in terms of routes and capacity for flights to New Zealand’’.
‘‘It’s an important step for airlines to rebuild their global connectivity,’’ Tighe-Umbers said. ‘‘It brings India back into the equation and allows the possibility for Chinese visitors once their border opens.’’
Pre-Covid, China was New Zealand’s second largest international visitor market, and a number of Chinese airlines operated flights to New Zealand, including Air China, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines and Sichuan Airlines.
However, China continues to take a zero-Covid approach, and its borders remain closed to most international travel.
Flight Centre generalmanager of product Victoria Courtney agreed China and India were the two key markets the decision would impact, eventually.
But it was unlikely we would see any significant increase in capacity being brought forward. For the month of May, New Zealand was sitting at about 30% of its pre-Covid flight capacity. This was set to rise to about 50% in July and by November it would reach about 70%.
‘‘I think what that’s showing is the airlines are really playing towards that peak season for the inbound tourist volume for November/December,’’ Courtney said. ‘‘[The announcement] will really just give those airlines more confidence to ensure they’re ready for the latter half of the year. It probably gives customers the confidence to book, and airlines to commit to the schedules they’ve already laid down.’’
House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas wasmore hopeful some airlines could bring their schedules forward as a result of the July 31 opening date.
‘‘I think you will see some coming. They’ll look now and go, ‘it’s May, we have three months to stand up a route and the crew’. It is very much on the cards we could start seeing those in August/ September.’’
Thomas said we needed those additional carriers to help bring down prices.
‘‘You’ve only got to look across the Tasman at the moment – if you
are looking to fly [to Australia] in the next few weeks, the price is expensive. That is a supply and demand situation and we just don’t have enough carriers competing in the New Zealand space to provide that competitive pricing.’’
However, he said it wasmore likely we would see greater capacity from October onwards, ‘‘simply because that’s the start of the inbound tourism season’’.
Other airlines that have confirmed they will return later in the year are Air Canada and American Airlines, which will both resume New Zealand services in November, while Emirates has said it will resume its non-stop Auckland to Dubai service in December, and will bring back the A380 on its Christchurch service.