Travel reboot: Jetstar announces massive domestic and transtasman sale for 2022

A Jetstar Airbus A320 at Auckland Airport. Photo / Grant Bradley

Jetstar has announced more than 85,000 discounted fares for domestic and transtasman travel from February 2022.

This is part of the company's plan to reboot its operations in New Zealand after a period of heavy Covid-related restrictions.

Launching at midnight, the four-day sale will include domestic fares from $25 (Auckland to Christchurch) and Trans-Tasman fares from $129 (Christchurch to Gold Coast).

Travel periods vary per route but include early February to mid-April 2022 and early May to early July 2022.

Special domestic fares include:

• Auckland to Christchurch from $25
• Auckland to Dunedin from $39
• Auckland to Wellington from $25
• Auckland to Queenstown from $50
• Christchurch to Wellington from $25
• Wellington to Queenstown from $39

Special Transtasman fares include:

• Auckland to Melbourne (Tullamarine) from $139
• Auckland to Gold Coast (Coolangatta) from $129
• Auckland to Sydney from $139
• Christchurch to Melbourne (Tullamarine) from $139
• Christchurch to Gold Coast (Coolangatta) from $129
• Queenstown to Melbourne (Tullamarine) from $199
• Queenstown to Sydney from $199
• Queenstown to Gold Coast (Coolangatta) from $189
• Wellington to Gold Coast (Coolangatta) from $129

Under current conditions, domestic travel out of Auckland is not permitted. However, the airline is betting on a relaxation of restrictions in the coming months.

The Government has announced that Aucklanders will be allowed to travel for Christmas this year, but the details of this travel have not yet been revealed.

The Government also said that there would be a relaxation of the international border in the first quarter of 2022. Once again, there is little clarity on when exactly this might happen or how it will work in practice.

Earlier this year, Jetstar was forced to cancel many flights across New Zealand as the Delta variant took hold in this part of the world. This included domestic flights and also international routes to Australia and the Cook Islands, which enjoyed quarantine-free travel bubbles with New Zealand for a short period of time.

The continued impact of Covid-19 in New Zealand has dashed hopes of a swift recovery for airlines operating here.

Australia has, however, charted a different path, relaxing Covid-19 restrictions and announcing a return of international travel in November in states that hit vaccination targets.