The airline previously said it would re-establish direct flights to Auckland and those to Wellington link on Monday, June 1.
But, an Air New Zealand spokesman said yesterday the company’s networks team had decided to bring forward the Dunedin to Auckland flight because of increased demand.
Wellington-Dunedin flights will still return at the start of June. People can still fly between Dunedin and the capital but there is a stop in Christchurch.
Flights to Auckland next Monday sold out within hours yesterday and there were one-way seats for the Tuesday trip available for $269.
Dunedin International Airport Ltd chief executive Richard Roberts said he was pleased with the announcement.
‘‘Over the next few months we will be working closely with Air NZ to track the demand in and out of the region.’’
Enterprise Dunedin chief executive John Christie said it would be great to have students and businesspeople able to get to Dunedin again.
‘‘We’ve obviously got a number of students that chose to go home during Level 4 and Level 3 and we’re looking forward to welcoming those students back.’’
He hoped the return of more flights would help to get the economy moving again and ‘‘dampen the effects Covid has had economically’’.
‘‘Everybody’s wanting to see the economy get up and running again as quickly as possible. Dunedin does a lot of business throughout New Zealand and just having that ability to attend meetings, to go and check up on people that are doing work.
"Just that ability to reconnect in a lot of different ways across New Zealand will be important for the business sector.’’
Dunedin City Council chief executive Sue Bidrose said the decision by Air NZ was ‘‘a welcome sign of our very real progress’’.
Dunedin Venues Management Ltd chief executive Terry Davies said the reopening of Dunedin to Auckland and Wellington would help the business events market and he looked forward to the city hosting major events when that was again safe.
