Jetstar eyes local return

A restart of Jetstar’s New Zealand domestic operation looks to be imminent with pilots preparing to return to work and cut-price airfares on sale from July 1.

Jetstar’s operations ground to a halt at the same time its parent company Qantas suspended all international flights in late March due to fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

Both airlines have largely been in hibernation since then with most of their 30,000 staff stood down.

Jetstar now appears to be preparing for a return to New Zealand skies with fares from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin available from July 1, including Auckland to Wellington for as little as $34.

A Jetstar spokeswoman on Wednesday said: ‘‘We’re monitoring demand on domestic New Zealand routes and working through the New Zealand in-flight requirements, and will have an update soon.’’

New Zealand Air Line Pilots’ Association (NZALPA) president Andrew Ridling said it understood that the airline was ‘‘preparing a pathway back to its domestic operations’’.

‘‘Pilots are now undertaking recurrent training for this event,’’ Ridling said. ‘‘We are expecting more information from Jetstar imminently.’’

E tu¯ union has 170 members employed at Jetstar while NZALPA has 85 pilots members at Jetstar.

On Monday Cabinet will assess whether the country should enter alert level 1.

At level 1 physical distancing will no longer be required on public transport and planes.

Board of Airline Representatives NZ executive director Justin Tigheumbers said operating flights with normal passenger loads was particularly important for low cost carriers such as Jetstar to resume flights.