Air New Zealand will increase trans-Tasman capacity between Australia and Queenstown by a further 30% this coming ski season, taking the total number of direct services to 13 per week.

For the peak July and August periods, weekly return services from Sydney will increase from five to six, Melbourne from two to three and Brisbane from three to four.

Flights from Auckland will also increase by 30% over the same period, with four direct return services per day.

“The increase in capacity reflects the ever increasing interest in the Southern Lakes region as a holiday destination,” says General Manager Tasman Pacific Airline Glen Sowry.

“It is also proving very popular over summer, with the number of flights from Auckland in January and February up 20% on last year.”

The domestic and trans-Tasman capacity increases across the upcoming airline Northern Summer schedule of April – October amounts to an additional 36,500 available seats into and out-of Queenstown.

Year on year growth has placed Queenstown as arguably New Zealand’s fastest-growing destination for Australian visitors, as a result of continual increases in Air New Zealand direct services across the Tasman, which were at four per week just five years ago.

Air New Zealand’s ability to fly its domestic and international customers into and out of Queenstown over the busy winter season has been further enhanced with 18 Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft now fitted with advanced navigation technology.

“Required Navigation Performance (RNP) has proved to be a huge benefit to customers and the airline with excellent reliability into Queenstown through some very challenging weather conditions. Last ski season, not a single one of Air New Zealand’s 140 trans-Tasman flights was diverted or cancelled due to poor weather conditions,” says Mr Sowry.