More Air NZ summer flights to Auckland

Air New Zealand is adding an extra 13,800 seats on its Auckland to Tauranga route over summer. Photo/File

A move by Air NZ to add 13,800 more seats on its Auckland flights over summer has been welcomed by city leaders.

Air New Zealand's Chief Revenue Officer Cam Wallace said it was gearing up for a bumper summer on its Auckland to Tauranga route.

"The change represents a total seat capacity increase on the route of 15 per cent when compared with the same period last year."

Between November 2017 and March 2018, the airline would operate more summer flights to and from Tauranga as it uses its existing domestic fleet to meet traveller demand over the summer.

Nationwide 180,0000 more seats would be available over its network and Tauranga was one of the key regions to benefit, Mr Wallace said.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan Gregec said it was good to see extra capacity added to flying in and out of Tauranga.

"Many local business people would like to see the additional capacity available all year round, and for greater reliability on the Tauranga-Auckland service."

"The Auckland-Tauranga leg has been somewhat prone to disruptions and cancellations from time to time. This can create a real headache for business travellers. Many business travellers choose to avoid it for this reason."

"Our members would also like to see more flights and user-friendly schedules added to and from Tauranga and Wellington."

Tauranga Airport manager Ray Dumble said any expansion was great.

''Particularly on that Auckland route that will take us up to nine flights a day because at the moment, we have eight. The more connectivity we have the better it will be for Tauranga.''

Flights to Auckland seated 50 people, he said.

House of Travel Downtown Tauranga owner Shane Kennedy said anything that enabled better access for local Bay of Plenty companies to connect with their national and global markets was great news.

''And from a tourism point of view, it allows more choice and efficiency for tourists to find Tauranga which offers enormous benefits for our community.''

Auckland to Tauranga flights
November 2017 to March 2018 - 13,800 more seats
Air New Zealand expects to sell up to a million seats for less than $100 across its domestic network over this period.
The additional flights are being progressively released for sale.