October takeoff for new regional services

Air New Zealand Group General Manager Short Haul Airlines Norm Thompson says the new services reflect Air New Zealand's ongoing commitment to regional New Zealand, and to making it easier for customers to travel direct to popular regional destinations.

In February the airline introduced regular weekday services between Wanganui and Wellington; a second daily service between Wellington and Westport; and lifted daily services between Wellington-Taupo and Christchurch-Hokitika from four to five.

Mr Thompson says these services are striking a chord with customers wanting to fly direct into the larger regions in New Zealand.

"We are committed to supporting regional communities and we've been delighted and very encouraged by the strong uptake for the services that we have recently introduced."

"We're anticipating the same level of support and enthusiasm for the new regional services we're launching on 29 October."

As previously announced, Air New Zealand will introduce new non-stop routes between Invercargill and Wellington (six flights a week), a weekday flight between Tauranga and Christchurch, and a weekday flight between New Plymouth and Christchurch.

All these flights - now available for sale - would be operated with the new fleet of Bombardier Q300 aircraft, which carry 50 passengers.

Mr Thompson also confirmed today that from 4 June customers in Christchurch and Hamilton will benefit from an additional daily service between the two cities.

"From June, we'll be stepping up from two to three ATR trips per weekday on the Christchurch-Hamilton route, to meet the customer demand that we're experiencing."

From January Air New Zealand will be introducing a daily year-round ATR service between Wellington and Queenstown. Historically this service has operated just in the July to September ski season.

"Queenstown continues to be a hugely popular destination for tourists and holidaying Kiwis alike, and we're confident the demand will well support a year-round service."

Air New Zealand also expects in January to introduce a primetime morning service between Wellington and Dunedin, using its ATR aircraft.

Mr Thompson says Air New Zealand will continue to review and adjust its regional schedule to meet the changing demands of its customers.

Flight schedules for the new services from 29 October:

ENDS

Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs. Phone: 09 336 2761

For more information please contact:

Tracey Palmer
Corporate Communications Manager
Tel 09 336 3179
Mob 021 628 129
tracey.palmer@airnz.co.nz

NOTE: The content of all Air New Zealand media releases are accurate at the time of issue, as stated at the top of each release. For updates on any changes, please contact Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India, Brussels Airlines and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,500 daily flights to 1,071 airports in 171 countries.

For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com.