Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Sydney flights canned for winter

Matthew Martin
By Matthew Martin
Senior reporter, Rotorua Daily Post·Rotorua Daily Post·
26 Sep, 2013 10:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Air New Zealand announced yesterday it would suspend flights from Rotorua to Sydney during the off-peak winter season between May and August. Photo / Ben Fraser

Air New Zealand announced yesterday it would suspend flights from Rotorua to Sydney during the off-peak winter season between May and August. Photo / Ben Fraser

Officials remain positive despite Air New Zealand's decision to suspend flights from Rotorua to Sydney during winter months.

However, they say a new international schedule will make it easier for travellers flying to and from Sydney, and they will also lower the international departure tax.

Air New Zealand announced yesterday it would suspend flights from Rotorua to Sydney during the off-peak winter season between May and August, aiming to focus on growing passenger numbers during the peak September to April travel season.

And, from September 2014, the airline will move its twice-weekly international service to Monday and Thursday, rather than the current Tuesday and Sunday flights.

Rotorua International Airport will also reduce its international departure tax from $25 to $15 from late October. Chief executive Alastair Rhodes said the changes were designed to better cater to business and leisure travellers, deliver greater returns and offer a competitive departure tax.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We have also renegotiated our agreement with Air New Zealand with benefits and commitments on both sides to make the service successful."

Mr Rhodes said discontinuing international flights during winter would significantly reduce Rotorua's financial contribution to the transtasman service.

"For a range of different reasons this is a sensible and responsible decision right now.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Having said that, we are continuing to explore opportunities with Air New Zealand around the potential to fly to Brisbane over the winter months when the domestic demand from Rotorua and Bay of Plenty travellers is significantly higher than to Sydney," he said.

Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters said while he was initially disappointed he could see a number of positives.

"The winter flights were very difficult to sell and people were becoming very frustrated when flights were being cancelled due to low passenger numbers.

"But, this is a good outcome overall and we're delighted they took our advice to go Monday and Thursday flights."

Discover more

Bigger planes a boost for Rotorua

04 Sep 10:43 PM

Transtasman flights canned for three months

25 Sep 11:51 PM

Editorial: Airport blow for our city

26 Sep 09:00 PM

Mr Winters pointed to the recently added extra capacity on daily flights from Rotorua to Auckland, the possibility of future flights to Brisbane during winter and less cost to ratepayers as positive steps.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

Landslide sparks evacuations, roads closed, homes flooded after storm

12 Jul 12:43 AM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP