Jetstar offers new low fare connections to NZ via Gold Coast

Low fares leader Jetstar will offer passengers traveling on the airline’s twice daily services from Tokyo and Osaka a connection to Auckland via its Gold Coast hub from Oct 25. Jetstar has retimed its daily Gold Coast-Auckland A320 service and is selling connecting fares to meet its separate daily international two-class services between Tokyo-Gold Coast and Osaka-Gold Coast.

The new scheduling arrangement enables same day access between Japan and New Zealand and has the potential to result in thousands of additional Japanese tourists being able to conveniently visit New Zealand each year. In addition, Jetstar’s new domestic New Zealand flight network also offers the opportunity for arriving and departing Japanese travelers into Auckland to fly onto Christchurch, close to the world famous wineries, Wellington the cultural capital of the country and Queenstown famous for its spectacular scenery and skiing.

New Zealand has long been a favorite destination for Japanese travelers who represent the fifth largest source market of tourists to the country. Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan said the airline aimed to encourage more Japanese visitors to New Zealand through newly introduced convenient and affordable links and innovative product offering especially designed for the important Japanese market.

“Jetstar is the largest airline operating between Australia and Japan with a current 21 weekly A330-200 services from Tokyo and Osaka, including a daily direct service from both cites to the Gold Coast,” Buchanan said. “Japan is a key tourism export market for both Australia and New Zealand and we are now offering our Japanese customers greater choice when traveling to Australasia to more conveniently access Jetstar and broader Qantas Group services to and from New Zealand. There is no underestimating the potential appeal of new same day flight access for New Zealand international travelers to fly to Japan on Jetstar."

Buchanan said Jetstar aimed to stimulate growing levels of traffic between Japan and New Zealand, and in time reflect its Australian experience, by tapping into new segments of the market. “Jetstar has changed the way many Japanese visitors choose to travel to Australia. We have found that up to 22% of Japanese travelers on Jetstar are either first time or infrequent international travelers, whilst fast growing bookings are now occurring online which further opens a new customer market in Japan for New Zealand’s tourism industry to attract,” Buchanan said.

© Japan Today