School holidays
Airlines bolster flights as Kiwis flock to sun and snow
We want to help as many as possible get away for a much-needed break.
Leanne Geraghty
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand has added additional capacity to its Auckland-Rarotonga route for winter sun while Bachcare says Kiwis are also flocking to the southern ski fields — making up for lost Australian bookings.
Air NZ will increase weekly flights to the Cook Islands by two to 11 from August 16 and will add another during the October school holidays. This would add more than 11,000 seats.
The airline’s chief sales officer, Leanne Geraghty, said the extra flights had been driven by the strength of demand. “We want to help as many Kiwis as possible get away for a much-needed break, so it’s great we have been able to add more.”
Meanwhile Jetstar, which had planned to launch its own connections to Rarotonga for the October holidays, has delayed the service until the end of the year in the light of Australian Covid-19 concerns.
The Air NZ announcement comes after holiday options in Australia have been hit hard by the Covid outbreak in New South Wales and some cases in Queensland.
New figures from Bachcare, New Zealand’s largest holiday home management firm, show last-minute domestic bookings have quickly offset gaps left by Australian tourists unable to travel across the ditch because of travel bubble pauses.
The data shows Queenstown and Wanaka have reached 90 per cent capacity and Arrowtown is at 88 per cent as Kiwi interest in skiing during the two weeks of school holidays — which start this weekend — surges.
Bachcare spokeswoman Zaina
Razzaq said the company had managed to resell almost all bookings that had been cancelled during June.
As a result, its sales projections indicate this ski season will be 15 per cent above forecasts, she said.
“We can see from our analysis of bookings this year that the July school holidays are all about skiing and the domestic market has significantly shifted towards ski regions when compared to last year.”
Wanaka bookings are up 74 per compared with the holiday period last year. Queenstown bookings are up 37 per cent and Arrowtown is up 42 per cent. Ohakune bookings are also well up, by 20 per cent, she said.
Razzaq says other regions around the country may be feeling the impact of the surge of interest in skiing.
“With ski accommodation sales performing so well, other regions haven’t been quite as popular compared to last year.” The only exception is Marlborough, where bookings are up 63 per cent, she said.
Razzaq said high local demand over the July period may also put pressure on tourism infrastructure including rental car stocks in popular ski areas.
Auckland Airport yesterday experienced its busiest day since last March with 28,000 people passing through its domestic terminal. Routes between Queenstown and the main centres were the most popular.