Perth is popular with Kiwi travellers and they will be able to fly on a new airline to the city. Photo / Getty
Perth is popular with Kiwi travellers and they will be able to fly on a new airline to the city. Photo / Getty
Long-awaited competition is coming to the Auckland-Perth route, with Malaysia’s Batik Air starting near-daily flights this month and offering fares well below incumbent Air New Zealand.
Batik Air will use Boeing 737-MAX8 planes on the service running six days a week from this month, going wingtip to wingtip on directflights against Air New Zealand, which has had the route to itself.
A price snapshot shows a return economy flight between Auckland and Perth on Batik in late September starts at $958, while on Air NZ it is $1467.
Batik Air fares include a 20kg bag but no complimentary meals, while Air NZ includes a 23kg bag and meals. However, until the end of October, the New Zealand carrier is not using its own planes, instead operating a wet-leased Wamos Airbus A330. Around Christmas time, Batik starts at $1467 in economy and Air NZ starts at $2012 (on a Dreamliner) for the flights, which are under eight hours.
House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas said it was inevitable that competition would keep a lid on prices and push them down.
“What we do know is where there is competition it does help with pricing in those lower fare classes and it will stimulate demand as well,” Thomas said.
The Batik flight to New Zealand originates in Kuala Lumpur, travelling to and from this country via Perth.
Batik’s arrival will add a third connection to Kuala Lumpur; Malaysian Airlines flies there non-stop and Air Asia flies via Sydney.
Thomas said the leg between Auckland and Perth would be of most interest to Kiwis. There was strong interest in holidays in Perth and Western Australia generally, and many Kiwis had family and friends living there.
He said a big challenge for Batik was the lack of awareness in the New Zealand market.
“Very few people would know who they are so they will have to work with the industry to fill those flights – there will be a limited number of people who would know them and by choice go there,” he said.
“They will have to find their feet in the marketplace and price accordingly. Do they see enough demand so they can fill it themselves, or do they have to stimulate demand by working with travel agents?”
Chief customer officer at Auckland Airport, Scott Tasker, said before the pandemic 143,000 people a year travelled between Auckland and Perth. The market had recovered strongly to 96 per cent of that level, which was ahead of the overall international recovery of 77 per cent of pre-pandemic travel.
“They [Batik] are offering competition on the direct Perth route which is always welcome.”
Qantas has run seasonal services between Auckland and Perth previously.
AKL-Perth return Sept 18-Sept 23: Batik Air: $958 Air NZ: $1407
AKL-Perth return Dec 23-Dec 30: Batik Air: $1467 Air NZ: $2012
A Batik Air Beoing 737MAX-8. Photo / Shaifuzzaman Ayon
Group strategy director Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy said expanding its footprint to Auckland was part of Batik’s network growth aspiration.
“Crossing the borders to the continent of Australia and New Zealand has always been part of our 10-year plan and we could not have been more elated to celebrate the mark of our 10th year anniversary, with Auckland being the 45th destination on our route map,” he said.
“With the rapid hike of global travel demand, we can assure competitive fares and convenient access across four nations. I trust this would not only benefit leisure travellers but also business travellers alike with affordable fares.”
Air New Zealand general manager short haul Jeremy O’Brien said Perth was a fantastic destination.
‘’Our focus is to continue offering the excellent Kiwi service we’re known for along with daily flight connections to and from Perth. We compete hard in all markets and the Perth route is no exception.”
The airline formerly operated as Malindo Air and is a subsidiary of Indonesia’s Lion Group, whose Lion Air had a patchy safety record for 15 years after it was founded in 1999. Its record improved but in 2018 a brand new Lion Air Boeing 737-MAX crashed soon after takeoff in Indonesia. That was found to be the result of faulty software installed by the planemaker and the flaw has been rectified for the worldwide fleet.
Batik lists 16 of the near-new 737-MAX8s in its fleet, seven older model 737-800s, two Airbus A330s and eight ATR turboprops.
The airline was rebranded in line with the Lion Group’s goal to establish common identity for full-service airlines within the group to more successfully compete against Garuda.
Its 737s on the New Zealand route will have 150 seats in economy and 12 in business class. Batik’s standard economy seats have a 32-inch pitch. Meals must be pre-purchased or bought on board, although most are priced at $10 to $12. Batik advises that in-flight entertainment in economy is not available on all aircraft.
Batik Air will start services to New Zealand from August 24. Photo / Tamsyn Parker
Batik’s business cabin is much different to the Dreamliners Air NZ will bring back to the route. Batik’s seats recline rather than being a bed and the Malaysian airline doesn’t have premium economy.
Batik will be a trailblazer for narrow-body/single-aisle aircraft travel to and from this country. The longest narrow-body flights at present are to Australia’s east coast and the Pacific Islands.
The use of a smaller plane on a longer route mirrors established trends overseas, where point-to-point flying using new, long-range and ultra-fuel-efficient 737-MAX planes and Airbus A321s is growing quickly.
Perth is 5343km from Auckland and the Boeing 737-MAX has a range of up to 6570km. Flight times between Auckland and Perth range between just over six hours and 7.5 hours.
Longer-range planes such as the Airbus A321XLR would be capable of reaching Bali from Auckland non-stop.
Tasker said narrow-body planes were now flying across the Atlantic and the Batik flights here could be a game-changer.
Airlines could now test markets with smaller planes and if there was sufficient demand add frequency or use larger aircraft.
The new 737 cabins were an improvement on older planes, with better storage for carry-on bags.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
