Pacific Blue will start services between Auckland and Melbourne in September.
Seats for the new service will be available for sale from 1pm today with a special launch one-way fare of $179 conditionally available until midnight Wednesday.
Pacific Blue said its low lead-in fare from Auckland to Melbourne
was $239, with those seats limited and not necessarily available on all flights or during peak periods.
The airline said it would be using a new180-seat 737-800 which is joining the fleet in early September, taking the number of aircraft flying to and from New Zealand or around the country from seven to eight.
While Pacific Blue says it is in "expansionary mode" in New Zealand, earlier this month its Australian parent Virgin Blue announced that it will remove two Boeing 737 aircraft from the Australian domestic market by October.
The cuts were a second round response to record fuel prices, reducing capacity by approximately 3 per cent in addition to a 6 per cent planned capacity reduction announced earlier.
Pacific Blue last week also announced new baggage fees to help recover rising fuel costs.
Company chief executive John Bartlett said today that despite fuel increases and a slowing world economy the airline was confident that people would continue to travel, he said.
Auckland Airport's chief executive Don Huse said it was expected the new international Pacific Blue service would stimulate greater demand for flying across the Tasman.
The new daily services equates to an additional 131,400 seats on offer each year.
More seats will be added to the route when Emirates begins flying its superjumbo Airbus A380 from Auckland in February next year.
