Jetstar launches new air route with 30,000 one-way $135 Hamilton-Sydney flights

Jetstar is expanding its operation in New Zealand. Photo / Phillip Capper, CC2

Qantas subsidiary Jetstar is offering international promotional fares on its growing range of New Zealand routes as it builds its presence in this country.

The airline is offering 30,000 discounted one-way international fares starting at $135; Hamilton to Sydney. The airline will start operations in the Waikato city next June with four flights a week to Sydney and three services to the Gold Coast.

The sale includes a range of destinations within Australia, as well as the Cook Islands, South Korea, Thailand and Bali, and will run until 11.59pm next Monday.

The low cost carrier charges extra for bags and food but it is offering Auckland-Seoul (via Sydney) for $274. Air New Zealand’s non-stop flights to Seoul start at $699 one-way for the next 12 months although they have a shorter total journey time.

Jetstar’s Christchurch to Bali flights (via Melbourne) start at $249 and Christchurch to Phuket (via Melbourne) start at $373.

Travel dates vary per route but include mid-November 2024 to early September 2025.

The Jetstar fares include:

• Hamilton to Sydney from $135
• Hamilton to Gold Coast from $145
• Auckland to Sydney from $149
• Dunedin to Gold Coast from $160
• Wellington to Gold Coast from $165
• Auckland to Brisbane from $169
• Auckland to Gold Coast from $169
• Auckland to Melbourne (Tullamarine) from $169
• Auckland to Rarotonga from $169
• Auckland to Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore) from $169
• Christchurch to Melbourne (Tullamarine) from $169
• Christchurch to Gold Coast from $175
• Queenstown to Sydney from $199
• Christchurch to Cairns from $225
• Christchurch to Bali (Denpasar) via Melbourne (Tullamarine) from $249
• Auckland to Seoul (Incheon) via Sydney from $274
• Christchurch to Phuket via Melbourne from $373

Jetstar is part of the Qantas group’s big push into this market, competing hard against Air New Zealand. Besides bringing international services back to Hamilton for the first time in 13 years, the airline will fly between Dunedin and Gold Coast three times a week from next June.

The group is the biggest transtasman carrier out of Wellington and will surpass Air New Zealand with seat capacity from Christchurch. From late October, Qantas will add over 175,000 seats on the Christchurch to Brisbane/Melbourne routes and Jetstar is adding 180,000 extra seats starting December 15, with more domestic flights and the introduction of an additional Airbus A320 to its New Zealand fleet, marking the first fleet expansion in New Zealand in over a decade.

Qantas announced this week it will use a widebody Dreamliner on Brisbane-Auckland flights boosting capacity by 40% a year although it scaled back its Sydney-Auckland-New York service from six flights to five next February.

Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.