Jetstar is targeting the Brisbane-Queenstown market for the snow season and also ramping up inter-city services in New Zealand.
Jetstar is launching its biggest-ever expansion of New Zealand and transtasman routes.
New Hamilton-Christchurch and Brisbane-Queenstown flights will commence next year.
Some of the new or enhanced services target the snow season and smaller cities, as the carrier today pledged to add 660,000 new seats on the routes.
The biggest new number of seats will be on Auckland-Christchurch flights.
Services between those two cities will increase from eight to 11 daily, with Jetstar saying it will add 290,000 more seats a year.
Auckland-Brisbane flights will move from up to 10 a week to twice daily, with 99,000 more seats a year.
Auckland-Sydney flights will also be more frequent, from eight per week to 12.
Jetstar said 79,000 seats will be added to this service.
Jetstar will fly from Christchurch to Melbourne every day all year long, with 26,000 additional seats on that route.
And the Auckland-Dunedin service will increase from seven flights a week to 10 a week from October 26 to May 17, with 24,000 additional seats a year.
Jetstar will base another Airbus A320 in Auckland.
The airline said it had re-timed its Auckland-Wellington flights to a 7.30am departure to give business and Government travellers more convenience and choice.
Jetstar said the expansion would also cater for New Zealanders travelling to Asia using Australia as a springboard.
“Double daily services from Auckland to Brisbane will allow customers to connect to Osaka, Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok, Phuket and Cebu, with one short stop in Brisbane.”
It said more Christchurch-Melbourne flights would allow Kiwis to head from Melbourne to Singapore, Bangkok, Bali, Phuket and Ho Chi Minh City.
“The carrier has also brought forward departure of its Christchurch to Cairns flights to 7am to allow for connections via North Queensland on to Tokyo.”
Jetstar group chief executive Stephanie Tully said the expansion would boost Jetstar’s NZ domestic capacity by 18% and by 14% across the Tasman.
“These changes will give a much-needed boost to inbound tourism while offering Kiwis even more low fares and choice in how they travel,” Tully said.
The airline’s announcement comes as NZ has for many months struggled to reach pre-Covid inbound tourism numbers.
Stats NZ today said overseas visitor arrivals were 236,600 in July 2025, an increase of 14,700 from a year earlier.
The total number of overseas visitor arrivals in July was 93% of the July 2019 numbers, before the pandemic.
Jetstar announced the new routes at 3pm today and said it would have a network-wide sale.
One-way sale fares included Christchurch to Wellington from $42 and Auckland to Osaka via Brisbane from $432.
Meanwhile, Qantas said it would start flying its Airbus A220 on the Wellington-Brisbane route.
Airbus said the A220’s overhead bins had the largest stowage capacity in their class.
Qantas said the narrow-body twinjets had almost double the range of their Boeing 717 predecessors.
The airline said the A220 had 25% fewer CO2 emissions than the older-generation aircraft.
The new aircraft joined the Qantas fleet last year.
Qantas said the aircraft had big windows as well as fast and free Wi-Fi.
The A220 also had integrated personal device holders and USB chargers in economy and business classes, plus wireless charging pads in business class.
The Qantas and Jetstar announcements also followed some high-profile struggles for regional airlines.
Airlines generally have been complaining this year about rising fees imposed by airports, air traffic control and aviation security.
“We’re working closely with the New Zealand Government to manage rising costs in the market,” Tully said.
She said Qantas and Jetstar were grateful for the Government’s “commitment to ensuring sustainable growth for air travel to and within NZ”.
Auckland Airport said the Jetstar moves were good for travellers and the local tourism industry.
“This is fantastic news and a real vote of confidence in New Zealand’s travel market,” Auckland Airport chief customer officer Scott Tasker said.
“More seats mean more choice, better schedules for business and leisure flyers, and stronger connections across NZ, Australia and into Asia.”
He said Jetstar’s investment, including basing another aircraft in Auckland, strengthened the airport’s role as the hub for Jetstar’s growth.
Hamilton Airport said the new Christchurch service would deliver 186 extra seats each way every day.
The airport said Jetstar’s move would lift its total passenger count to more than half a million travellers each year.
Air New Zealand in May said it would bring its A320 to Hamilton for flights to Christchurch five days a week from September 18.
That will be the first time in 25 years for domestic jets to fly out of Hamilton.
Hamilton Airport acting chief executive Ben Langley said both services would fuel regional growth.
John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation and courts. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.