Pacific Blue Offers New Zealanders More Expensive Air Travel

Group General Manager Short Haul Airlines Norm Thompson says that based on information Pacific Blue released today it will be uncompetitive in most fare categories.

The following tables compare today's Pacific Blue fares and Air New Zealand's fares, which are effective September 1. (Note: Air New Zealand's year-round lead-in fares are now the same as Pacific Blue's and Air New Zealand's Flexi Saver and Fully Flexi fares are unchanged.)

Mr Thompson says Air New Zealand is the market leader when it comes to everyday low cost travel in New Zealand.

"That position is not going to change. Our commitment extends to the fact that this afternoon we have moved to continue to lead the market by lowering lead-in year-round fares on the main trunk routes.

"Furthermore, Air New Zealand has been at the forefront of ridiculously low fares through initiatives like grabaseat, which has seen fares as low as $1 on key routes like Auckland-Wellington and Christchurch-Dunedin over the past couple of months. Kiwis have really embraced our drive to make air travel more affordable than ever, with the number of people we have flown around New Zealand increasing from 5.5 million in the 2002 financial year to 7.7 million in the 2007 financial year, an increase of 40%."

Mr Thompson says Air New Zealand's advantages over Pacific Blue go beyond price points.

"Our frequency on the main trunk routes on which we will compete is far superior due to the fact that we have 14 Boeing 737s in our domestic fleet and are about to take delivery of a further two, compared with Pacific Blue's two aircraft."

Weekday Frequency On Competing Routes:

Mr Thompson says Air New Zealand had been expecting a new competitor in the domestic market for the past couple of years.

"Impending competition has been a great incentive to ensure that Air New Zealand's domestic services have become as efficient and low cost as possible. In effect, we have been operating as though a competitor is already in the market on the 26 destinations to which we operate to and from," Mr Thompson says.

Air New Zealand will announce changes to its domestic experience at its Annual Result on Tuesday.

ENDS

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

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.