A three day a week air service linking Dunedin and Invercargill will be launched next month.
Mainland Air's announcement follows the success of the company's air service between Dunedin, Alexandra and Queenstown.
Mainland Air business manager Daniel McMillan said the flights to Alexandra and Queenstown started in November and were getting ‘‘excellent'' loadings.
There would be four return flights a week between Dunedin and Invercargill, at a flat rate of $145 each way, he said.
The service would begin on April 14 with flights on Mondays, Wednesdays (two return services) and Fridays.
Ten-seat Piper Chieftains and six-seat Seneca aircraft would be used, Mr McMillan said.
No airline has flown directly between the two cities since Origin Pacific folded in 2005.
A one-way flight takes 35 minutes.
Mr McMillan said demand for a service between the two cities had reached a level where it would be sustainable to have a service, but this would be reassessed after four months.
Mainland Air had been providing at least six charter flights a month between Dunedin and Invercargill to business customers and doctors, he said.
The new service would be primarily aimed at business people but open to anyone.
He accepted it would be more economical for a family to travel by road.
Mr McMillan said the company continued to consider a Dunedin-Wanaka service.
