Singapore flight price a bit rich

Big demand in late January has pushed the price of an Air New Zealand seat from Singapore to Wellington to nearly $8000.

Wellington man Sean Golding found the ticket price a bit rich when he went to book the homeward leg of a trip with the airline.

On the Air NZ website yesterday, the flight for January 23 from Singapore was S$6706 (NZ$7884) for one adult.

The only seat available was business premier, although business class was from Singapore to Christchurch, then economy to Wellington following a three-hour transit, according to Expedia. There were no seats available on the route on 11 flights between January 15 and 29, according to Air NZ’S website.

Between January 6 and February 5, the cheapest one-way flight from Singapore to Wellington was S$5237 (NZ$6155) and the most expensive S$6707. A month later, the price was a lot lower at S$1837 (NZ$2158).

It was also significantly cheaper flying from Wellington to Singapore, at NZ$1305 on January 23.

An Air NZ spokesperson said the flights were very full, with people coming from Europe to New Zealand via Singapore, and the price was for a business premier ticket. Cheaper one-way seats to New Zealand were available on many other international flights.