Pacific Blue management and staff met Dunedin City Council officials and travel agents to celebrate the announcement made last week that the company would be coming to Dunedin from July 1.
Pacific Blue chief executive officer John Bartlett said the growth of the airline had exceeded expectations. When Pacific Blue first started flying in November, it said it hoped to move into the South in 18 months to two years.
Shifting the date to July 1 showed how successful the airline had been and how strong its connection with New Zealanders was, he said.
The company was aiming for plane-loadings of up to 90% across the country - and Dunedin should be no different.
The company had sold 3500 Dunedin tickets since it launched its products last week with a special discount fare.
The company will initially have a daily round-trip flight to Christchurch, flying a Boeing 737-800, which has a capacity of 180 people.
The company wanted to firmly establish its Dunedin connection before looking at Queenstown and Invercargill connections.
