Air New Zealand adds 180,000 more seats to domestic jet route capacity

Air New Zealand intends to increase domestic jet capacity by a further 4.2% from September, taking the total number of services on its main trunk routes to more than 750 per week.

Air New Zealand General Manager Commercial Jeff McDowall says the move comes as a result of increasing leisure and business customer demand.

“Our Boeing 737 services between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin have been experiencing a steady increase in demand over recent months and this has given us the confidence to add an additional 180,000 seats onto the main trunk routes.”

This third capacity increase comes in addition to recent announcements of a 3.8% capacity increase across Air New Zealand’s entire domestic network from November and a 10.5% increase in domestic jet capacity from January next year.

“What this means for our customers is that we are adding a total of more than half a million additional seats on our domestic jet network from early next year – offering even more everyday low fares and increased frequency,” says Mr McDowall.

“Today’s announcement follows Air New Zealand’s recent commitment to increase the number of everyday low fares out of New Zealand’s regional centres as well. “