Jetstar will fly direct services from Melbourne and the Gold Coast to Queenstown from mid December, as well as boosting its services from Auckland.
The low cost carrier will commence twice weekly services from Melbourne to Queenstown from December 16, with the services from the Gold Coast commencing the day after, and also flown twice a week. Lead in fares on both routes start from $199 one way. Jetstar will also expand its Auckland-Queenstown services to 11 times a week from December 11.
Jetstar CEO Bruce Buchanan said that the airline is expecting to benefit from the growth in Australian tourists visiting Queenstown in recent years. “We expect our new services to be extremely popular for people seeking direct, hassle-free, low fare flights to Queenstown, a destination that offers spectacular natural beauty, phenomenal skiing and adrenalin activities, and relaxing summer outdoor past-times such as hiking.”
The expansion of Queenstown services has been aided by the introduction of required navigation performance (RNP) to Jetstar’s A320 fleet, which reduces flight diversions in poor weather and low visibility conditions due to precision GPS guided flightpaths. For more about Jetstar’s introduction of RNP, refer to the June 2010 issue of Australian Aviation.
