Domestic jet services to return to Hamilton after 25 years
Today, Air New Zealand announced they will begin flying their Airbus A320s between Hamilton and Christchurch from September 18th this year.
One of Air New Zealand’s Airbus A320ceos | Photo: Noah Stohr-Waldren
The larger capacity jet will operate five times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, operating alongside their current ATR-72 flights. The move will add roughly 25,000 seats per year on the route.
The Air New Zealand flight will leave Christchurch at 3pm, arriving at 4.20pm and return to Christchurch at 5.05pm, arriving at 6.25pm.
Air New Zealand currently operates a fleet of seventeen domestic A320ceos. The aircraft can carry up to 171 passengers and are capable of completing the flight thirty minutes faster than the ATR-72s that the airline currently uses on the route.
Air New Zealand already operates the route with twenty-six flights per week using smaller ATR-72s. The ATR-72s that the A320 will replace will be redeployed on other regional routes across New Zealand.
The decision to use A320s on the route comes just weeks before Jetstar begins flights to Hamilton from Sydney and the Gold Coast. Jetstar’s first flight to Sydney leaves on June 16 and its first to Gold Coast takes off on June 18.
“We were confident domestic jet services would be back, but we’ve been very proactive in working to make that happen. There’s been ongoing discussions with Air New Zealand but this is even faster than we had hoped and is a strong endorsement of the airport. It’s fantastic news,” Waikato Regional Airport Ltd chief executive Mark Morgan said.