Wirraway
29th Oct 2003, 21:31
Thurs "Sydney Morning Herald"
Bound for New Zealand: cheap flights galore
By Carolyn Cummins
October 30, 2003
The battle of the airlines has intensified with the launch yesterday of Air New Zealand's new Tasman Express service, featuring low fares on every flight from Australia to New Zealand every day of the year.
The launch comes as the airline revealed it expects a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers on flights between New Zealand and Australia in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.
The no-frills service has arrived amid an explosion of new campaigns by Qantas and British Airways promoting their new business class upgrades, including the new "skybeds".
M&C Saatchi were behind the initial Qantas campaign for the new business class services, while Singleton Ogilvy Mather have produced the current ads for the Rugby World Cup.
Yesterday Air NZ said discounts of up to 36 per cent would apply on Tasman Express flights, and an average 25 per cent of all fares would be available at the lowest SmartSaver levels.
The campaign will involve multi-million dollar sums spent predominantly on print formats until the end of the financial year. It will use a combination of junior page advertisements focusing on selling New Zealand as a destination (in order to expand the overall market), and strip ads focusing purely on selling the benefits of Tasman Express.
The airline said it was aiming to get across four key messages: its fares were the lowest available online; it had reduced fares by up to 36 per cent without compromising service standards; there were more than 100 flights a week to 25 destinations; and the discounted fares were not one-off specials.
The airline has introduced new Airbus A320 twinjets on routes from Sydney and Melbourne to Auckland and Christchurch, and yesterday unveiled new cafe-style catering on the trans-Tasman services.
It has also announced 12 additional trans-Tasman flights, four on the Melbourne-Auckland route, three each on the Sydney-Christchurch and Melbourne-Christchurch routes, and two between Brisbane and Christchurch.
Air NZ will also offer the year-round discounts from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Cairns to 25 destinations in New Zealand.
Air NZ Australian vice president Paul Donovan said the airline had New Zealand "covered", with discounted fares from Melbourne to "every destination we serve in New Zealand".
"Our new Tasman Express service guarantees low fares on every Air New Zealand flight from Melbourne to New Zealand every day of the year," he said.
Air NZ has placed orders for 15 Airbus A320s, largely for use on trans-Tasman services, replacing a mix of smaller Boeing 737-300s and larger Boeing 767-200s.
Initially, the 146-seat Airbuses, which offer both business and "Pacific" classes, will operate from Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland and Christchurch, with the network expanding to other east coast routes as more A320s enter the fleet.
To take advantage of the increase in business class travel, British Airways has also launched a new advertising campaign, Sleep Well, for its business class, Club World.
In the increasingly competitive Asia-Pacific business class market, and with the recent launch of competing products, the campaign, done by M&C Saatchi Sydney, aims to maintain British Airways' leadership position.
The campaign moves beyond the product and focuses on the end benefit - sleep.
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Bound for New Zealand: cheap flights galore
By Carolyn Cummins
October 30, 2003
The battle of the airlines has intensified with the launch yesterday of Air New Zealand's new Tasman Express service, featuring low fares on every flight from Australia to New Zealand every day of the year.
The launch comes as the airline revealed it expects a 10 per cent increase in passenger numbers on flights between New Zealand and Australia in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.
The no-frills service has arrived amid an explosion of new campaigns by Qantas and British Airways promoting their new business class upgrades, including the new "skybeds".
M&C Saatchi were behind the initial Qantas campaign for the new business class services, while Singleton Ogilvy Mather have produced the current ads for the Rugby World Cup.
Yesterday Air NZ said discounts of up to 36 per cent would apply on Tasman Express flights, and an average 25 per cent of all fares would be available at the lowest SmartSaver levels.
The campaign will involve multi-million dollar sums spent predominantly on print formats until the end of the financial year. It will use a combination of junior page advertisements focusing on selling New Zealand as a destination (in order to expand the overall market), and strip ads focusing purely on selling the benefits of Tasman Express.
The airline said it was aiming to get across four key messages: its fares were the lowest available online; it had reduced fares by up to 36 per cent without compromising service standards; there were more than 100 flights a week to 25 destinations; and the discounted fares were not one-off specials.
The airline has introduced new Airbus A320 twinjets on routes from Sydney and Melbourne to Auckland and Christchurch, and yesterday unveiled new cafe-style catering on the trans-Tasman services.
It has also announced 12 additional trans-Tasman flights, four on the Melbourne-Auckland route, three each on the Sydney-Christchurch and Melbourne-Christchurch routes, and two between Brisbane and Christchurch.
Air NZ will also offer the year-round discounts from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Cairns to 25 destinations in New Zealand.
Air NZ Australian vice president Paul Donovan said the airline had New Zealand "covered", with discounted fares from Melbourne to "every destination we serve in New Zealand".
"Our new Tasman Express service guarantees low fares on every Air New Zealand flight from Melbourne to New Zealand every day of the year," he said.
Air NZ has placed orders for 15 Airbus A320s, largely for use on trans-Tasman services, replacing a mix of smaller Boeing 737-300s and larger Boeing 767-200s.
Initially, the 146-seat Airbuses, which offer both business and "Pacific" classes, will operate from Melbourne and Sydney to Auckland and Christchurch, with the network expanding to other east coast routes as more A320s enter the fleet.
To take advantage of the increase in business class travel, British Airways has also launched a new advertising campaign, Sleep Well, for its business class, Club World.
In the increasingly competitive Asia-Pacific business class market, and with the recent launch of competing products, the campaign, done by M&C Saatchi Sydney, aims to maintain British Airways' leadership position.
The campaign moves beyond the product and focuses on the end benefit - sleep.
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