Qantas is marking 60 years of flying jets to New Zealand and had released a collection of content from its official archives. Video / Qantas
Qantas has announced plans to offer a new non-stop service between Auckland and Adelaide.
The Australian airline will fly the route four times per week, commencing October 31, 2025.
The seasonal route will operate on a Boeing 737-800 until May 3, 2026, with fares starting at $699 NZD return.
Qantas will operate a new non-stop service connecting Adelaide to Auckland.
The Australian airline today announced plans to fly between New Zealand’s largest city and the South Australian capital four times per week. The flights will use a Boeing 737-800 aircraft and start in late October.
Qantas will offer the route seasonally. Subject to government and regulatory approval, the inaugural service will take off on October 31, with flights running through to May 3, 2026.
The Auckland to Adelaide flight will operate as QF176 on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday with an estimated flight time of four hours and 50 minutes.
The Australian flag carrier will fly to the South Australian city from Auckland four times a week.
New Zealanders can book their seats on Qantas’ newly announced flights now. The launch fare for a return economy ticket is $699 including taxes, for travel between October 31 and December 12, this year or January 19, 2026 to March 28, 2026.
Air New Zealand is currently the only airline that offers a direct route from New Zealand to Adelaide, flying non-stop between the cities four times a week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.
The new destination is Qantas’ second new international route announced for customers out of New Zealand this month. In early May the Australian carrier revealed it would revive direct flights between Auckland and Perth from December 7.
Both announcements are part of the airline’s push to grow its international network from New Zealand and strengthen competition with Air New Zealand on transtasman routes.
Once launched, the new routes will introduce over 110,000 more seats between Australia and New Zealand each year, increasing Qantas’ capacity to Auckland by almost 10%.
Qantas said as well as delivering visitors into Adelaide, the new flight unlocks “connections to a range of popular destinations throughout South Australia”.
Adelaide serves as a primary gateway to the Barossa Valley, a well-known wine region in South Australia.
Qantas International chief executive Cam Wallace said, “Direct flights between Auckland and Adelaide are back on the Qantas international network for the first time in 20 years and we couldn’t be more excited.”
Wallace said the addition is in response to strong demand from Kiwis looking to explore more of Australia.
“Our new international flights will give both business and leisure travellers more choice when travelling to South Australia and open up more inbound tourism opportunities with connections for customers to Auckland and New Zealand through our Jetstar domestic network.”
The addition of a second carrier flying direct between Auckland and Adelaide has been welcomed by tourism bodies in Aotearoa and Australia, who hope it will boost tourism in both directions.
René de Monchy, chief executive of Tourism New Zealand said, “Having another direct flight available makes it even easier for visitors to book their trip here, and Auckland is an ideal gateway for our South Australian friends and whānau to start their journey throughout New Zealand.”
Stacey Kerr, South Australia Tourism Commission regional manager for New Zealand, revealed Aotearoa is the equal-second-largest source market for visitors to South Australia, on par with China and behind only the UK.
“Tourism expenditure from New Zealand grew by 29% in the last year, with 48,000 visitors coming to South Australia in 2024. Kiwis are also staying longer in the region, with the average length of stay up 56% to 11 nights.”
