10 June 2009

Jetstar expansion develops South Island economy

Christchurch Airport has today welcomed Jetstar’s domestic services to the South Island with celebrations at the airport.

Flight JQ249 arrived at 12.05pm to a water cannon welcome from the Airport Fire Service and festivities for arriving passengers in the terminal, where work was undertaken through the night to install Jetstar in the domestic terminal.

Airport Chief Executive Jim Boult said that South Islanders would benefit from the increased choice and affordability that Jetstar’s domestic services would bring. 

“This new service will increase capacity on the domestic routes out of Christchurch immediately, which can only have a positive impact on our economy”, he said.  “Decisive moves such as this in a time of economic difficulties send a positive message to the tourism industry, and this will stimulate travel both for business and leisure”.

These new domestic flights will offer connections through to Jetstar's 28 weekly flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, offering ease of transfer for South Islanders, all under one roof at Christchurch Airport.

Yesterday saw the last flight for Qantas domestic services.

“It’s the end of an era here, with the departure of the Qantas domestic services,” said Mr Boult.  “Qantas have provided an excellent service to our domestic market for eight years, and while we look forward to a continued strong relationship through the airline’s international services, we’ll see fewer of the distinctive kangaroo tails on our runways in the future”, he said.

“Jetstar’s clear commitment to Christchurch is extremely positive for the region.  We’re pleased that our robust relationship with this airline over the past 12 months has assisted their entry into the domestic market, and we’re looking forward to working with them on further development opportunities in the future”.  

Jetstar Chief Executive Bruce Buchanan said Jetstar was excited to be launching domestic services into Christchurch. 

“Now New Zealand has greater choice with Jetstar’s domestic market arrival with our proven low cost business model supporting constant innovation and low fare flying for consumers,” Mr Buchanan said.

“Jetstar will take a price leadership position in the domestic New Zealand market backed by our Price Beat Guarantee and offer an attractive value for money travel proposition”.

From today, Jetstar will operate five return services daily to Auckland (increasing to six in late June) and one to Queenstown from Christchurch, with daily services commencing to Wellington later in the month.