Emirates boosts Auckland services, Air New Zealand stopover in Australia

Emirates will increase its direct flights to Auckland from Dubai from the end of March to six a week, while Air New Zealand accepts bookings for dozens more Australian flights a week from mid-April.

One year after the collapse of aviation, talks about a two-way transtasman bubble have prompted Air New Zealand to upload more flights to its booking website for Australian cities it has flown to on a skeletal schedule and return to places like Sunshine Coast, Cairns and Australia. Adelaide: routes you stopped flying last year.

Direct flights from Queenstown to Australia will also appear on the Air New Zealand site starting April 19. This start date coincides with all New Zealand school holidays and would capture a week of Australian school holidays and include Anzac Day, a major shared day event on both sides of the Tasman.

Virgin Australia, which pulled out of the Tasman before it collapsed last April, says it has now been selling seats across Tasman since June 19.

Emirates has been flying four times a week from Dubai and at the new schedule on March 28, flights from Auckland to Dubai will depart every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

All flights to Auckland will be operated by the Boeing 777, which has a considerable cargo capacity. The airline will benefit from an extension of the government’s air transport support plan.

Emirates, which grounded its entire fleet in April last year, has restarted operations in more than 90 destinations within its global network.

Air New Zealand plans to restore its Australian network of nine cities and add another, Hobart, when a bubble of two-way travel without quarantine is launched.

While it has said that it is a date to be set by the Government, which could arrive this afternoon, its website shows the range of destinations and the number of services in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne jump from April 19.

However, Hobart and Norfolk Island are not showing up.

Leanne Geraghty, director of customers and sales, said the airline expected strong demand for seats on both sides of the Tasman.

In April, the lowest one-way fare from Auckland to Sydney is $ 447 and most start at $ 527.

Geraghty said Air New Zealand would offer a range of prices on its refurbished network.

Last February, when air travel was collapsing, the airline tried to stimulate demand by offering transtasman fares for as low as $ 69.

The Qantas website shows no increase in the number of flights and a spokesperson said they would wait for an announcement from the New Zealand government before outlining their plans.