Jetstar to fly daily from Auckland to Sydney and Gold Coast

The low-cost airline Jetstar Airways, a subsidiary of Australia’s flag carrier Qantas Airways, will start direct daily flights from Auckland in New Zealand to Sydney and Gold Coast in Australia from April 28, 2009.

Jetstar to fly daily from Auckland to Sydney and Gold Coast from April 28, 2009

The new, daily return Auckland services are subject to regulatory approval.

At present, Jetstar has an operation in New Zealand, based in Christchurch.

The new services, using Airbus A320 aircraft, would be in addition to Jetstar’s existing 28 weekly flights from Christchurch in New Zealand and Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Gold Coast in Australia.

Jetstar Airways, with its main base is Melbourne Airport, Australia, operates an extensive domestic network as well as regional and some international services. It has a sister operation called Jetstar Asia/Valuair which has widespread operation throughout Asia. Jetstar took over the Singapore-Darwin-Cairns route, previously operated by Jetstar Asia, on February 1, 2008.

In a statement, Bruce Buchanan, chief executive of Jetstar, defended the company’s decision to start new services to Sydney and the Gold Coast, and not direct to Melbourne or Brisbane. He said: “We wanted to get established on the Tasman market with what we thought would be a good complementary offering. We already have quite a sizeable presence in Sydney … it was a natural fit. The Gold Coast provides a unique opportunity. It provides a strong outbound market we think for, and to sell a very different proposition, into the New Zealand marketplace. It also provides an opportunity to link into our Japanese hub.”

“The Auckland service,” Bruce Buchanan added, “is important so that Jetstar could build a critical presence in New Zealand. I think it is a fair bet that when we do enter the domestic New Zealand market that Christchurch and Auckland will be two cities that we would like to join together.”

Jetstar’s proposed Auckland-Gold Coast daily service will be a new route for the Qantas Group.

Qantas Airways will continue to fly 4 times daily between Auckland and Sydney along with other existing international services from Auckland. Jetstar’s single-class fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft will offer nearly 5,000 additional weekly seats for the Qantas Group on the trans-Tasman route.

Jetstar’s every day, one-way Web fares on the Auckland-Sydney and Auckland-Gold Coast routes start from $199, the company said.

The carrier would apply for a future New Zealand air operator certificate, which would “provide it with flexibility for any future flying opportunities.”

The airline is offering cut-price introductory fares for travel between April 28 and June 18, 2009.