Jet soars into South Island tourist town for 30 years

Air New Zealand is today celebrating the 30th anniversary of an absolute game-changer for Queenstown.

That’s because on October 17, 1994, it began a scheduled Auckland-Queenstown jet service, two years after the national carrier, and Mount Cook Group, started flying Boeing 737-200 hush-kitted jets into the resort.

‘‘Connecting New Zealand’s main international hub directly with the Southern Lakes region was a game-changer,’’ says Air NZ domestic GM Scott Carr, ‘‘and three decades later this service is now the third-most popular on our domestic network.

‘‘Look, it’s just grown and grown, hasn’t it, rather like Queenstown itself.’’

In the past decade alone, the airline’s carried more than 7 million passengers between Queenstown and Auckland, and this summer it’ll operate up to 116 return services a week — about eight flights each way, every day — increasing to 156 over the Christmas period.

The frequency of those flights also increased from May 23, 2016, when Air NZ operated its first after-dark flights on the route — ‘‘being able to connect people late [in the day] into Queenstown is phenomenal’’, Carr says.

He estimates at times of the year up to 30% of passengers flying in from Auckland are international-connecting ones.

‘‘And those are the ones we know — alot of people actually buy their tickets once they’re in the country.

‘‘I know how incredibly popular and attractive Queenstown is to international visitors — I was always very proud when I was in Tokyo or Los Angeles or London [with Air NZ] being able to support tourism into the area with one-stop flights over Auckland.’’

Carr adds the service also provides an important cargo link between the lower South Island and the international hub that’s Auckland.

One key product is lobster, which Air NZ’s been carrying since August, 2013 — ‘‘[it] now accounts for approximately 250 tonnes of cargo carried north from Queenstown each year’’.

Queenstown Airport CEO Glen Sowry notes about half the passengers through the airport fly this route.

‘‘It enables efficient, convenient travel for business or leisure, as well as creating long-haul connections with Asia, North America and Europe.

‘‘Air NZ was also the first airline to adopt RNP flight procedures into Queenstown, which created a step change in reliability in and out of the airport.’’

Air NZ’s gifting passengers flying between Queenstown and Auckland today not only extra Cookie Time treats, but it’s also giving away, on select flights, some adventure activities in both centres.