lame
20th May 2004, 21:12
Airline price war brings holiday rush for Pacific Islands
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
21may04
COMPETITION on routes between Australia and the Pacific Islands is heating up with Air New Zealand reporting a 50 per cent rise in bookings and Fiji's Air Pacific boosting flights to Australia.
Air NZ said the jump in bookings followed its decision to slash fares on its new Pacific Express service, which began flights yesterday. The airline cut fares to the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga by an average 25 per cent earlier this year, with one-way Sydney-Fiji tickets from as little as $415 for flights starting yesterday.
"We've been exceptionally pleased with the success of Pacific Express even before the first flight left the tarmac," said Air NZ's general manager for Australia, Michael Reed. "Bookings are up 50 per cent and we're already seeing busy periods like the Christmas season showing very heavy bookings."
As well as encouraging leisure traffic, Air NZ hopes to tap into a "visiting friends and relatives" market of more than 180,000 Pacific Islanders living in Australia.
The airline said bookings between New Zealand and the islands had almost doubled as travellers responded to discounts there of up to 50 per cent.
Fiji-based Air Pacific announced it would add three flights a week to its Australia-Fiji schedule in the peak July-October period, bringing the total number of services to 23 a week.
The new services include inaugural non-stop Canberra-Nadi services using 118-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline, which is part-owned by Qantas, said its two weekly Canberra-Nadi services would be the first scheduled direct international air services operating into Canberra. An additional Boeing 747-400 would be introduced on Melbourne-Nadi services from June 5.
The expansion of services means the airline flies daily between Brisbane-Nadi using 152-seat 737-800 aircraft. Melbourne capacity will rise with two 458-seat Boeing 747-400 and three 252-seat Boeing 767-300 services weekly.
There are no changes to existing daily Boeing 747-400 Sydney-Nadi and twice-weekly Boeing 737-800 Sydney-Suva services.
Australian regional general manager Victor Sharan said Air Pacific had the ability to increase services on all routes if demand warranted.
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
21may04
COMPETITION on routes between Australia and the Pacific Islands is heating up with Air New Zealand reporting a 50 per cent rise in bookings and Fiji's Air Pacific boosting flights to Australia.
Air NZ said the jump in bookings followed its decision to slash fares on its new Pacific Express service, which began flights yesterday. The airline cut fares to the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga by an average 25 per cent earlier this year, with one-way Sydney-Fiji tickets from as little as $415 for flights starting yesterday.
"We've been exceptionally pleased with the success of Pacific Express even before the first flight left the tarmac," said Air NZ's general manager for Australia, Michael Reed. "Bookings are up 50 per cent and we're already seeing busy periods like the Christmas season showing very heavy bookings."
As well as encouraging leisure traffic, Air NZ hopes to tap into a "visiting friends and relatives" market of more than 180,000 Pacific Islanders living in Australia.
The airline said bookings between New Zealand and the islands had almost doubled as travellers responded to discounts there of up to 50 per cent.
Fiji-based Air Pacific announced it would add three flights a week to its Australia-Fiji schedule in the peak July-October period, bringing the total number of services to 23 a week.
The new services include inaugural non-stop Canberra-Nadi services using 118-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline, which is part-owned by Qantas, said its two weekly Canberra-Nadi services would be the first scheduled direct international air services operating into Canberra. An additional Boeing 747-400 would be introduced on Melbourne-Nadi services from June 5.
The expansion of services means the airline flies daily between Brisbane-Nadi using 152-seat 737-800 aircraft. Melbourne capacity will rise with two 458-seat Boeing 747-400 and three 252-seat Boeing 767-300 services weekly.
There are no changes to existing daily Boeing 747-400 Sydney-Nadi and twice-weekly Boeing 737-800 Sydney-Suva services.
Australian regional general manager Victor Sharan said Air Pacific had the ability to increase services on all routes if demand warranted.