Flying to Wanganui cheaper now

TAKING OFF: Bombardier Q300s have been flying between Wanganui and Auckland.

Wanganui may sit at the lower end of Air New Zealand's regional services but it is starting to see its fare schedules fall into line with other provincial centres.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman told the Chronicle the country's national carrier had always planned to bring changes.

This means is that, on some days, a basic one-way fare can be bought for just $59. But this can be on the same day when the first flight out of Wanganui to Auckland will cost an eye-watering $239. The airline said it had signalled that planned - and significant - increases in domestic capacity would result in more low fares. "This was done to in order to build demand and we have seen this play out over the past six months," the spokeswoman said.

Driving the fare cuts is Air New Zealand's progressive move from the 19-seat Beech 1900D aircraft to the more cost effective 50-seater Bombardier Q300 aircraft on the Wanganui to Auckland route.

"As a result, in early August we introduced lower lead-in fares of $69 (reduced from $99) for the Wanganui-Auckland route," she said.

"In the last financial year Air New Zealand offered 1.8 million fares under $100 across our domestic network, including on regional turboprop routes. In the 2016 financial year we will offer more than 2 million fares under $100 domestically." A random check of the airline's fare prices shows that booking a basic fare on a one-way flight to Auckland on Wednesday, October 7, on the 10.30am flight will cost $59.

The top end FlexiPlus fare will cost $109. But book on the 6.55am flight - the first and most popular flight out of the city - and a basic one-way fare will cost you $239 and a FlexiPlus $50 more.

Wednesday, December 9, the 10.30am flight for a one-way fare is $99 and the FlexiPlus $149. Again, try for the first flight out and the basic fare is the same as the October prices.

But looking as far ahead as February next year, the landscape changes. You can catch the "red eye" (6.55am) for a basic fare price of $69. FlexiPlus on the same flight is $119.

Air New Zealand started flying its Bombardier aircraft on a regular service through the city from the end of April and they will be the only planes on the route from February.

The bigger planes means a 75 per cent increase in seats compared with the current schedule, but it will also mean a cut in the number of flights.

Air New Zealand currently operates four return trips every weekday between Wanganui and Auckland, with three return trips on a Saturday and four on a Sunday. But from February, there will be three return services between the two ports on weekdays, two on Saturdays and two on Sundays.

In April Christopher Luxon, Air New Zealand's chief executive, told the Chronicle the changes would bring cheaper air fares.

With the bigger planes the airline expected to be able to reduce the average airfare by 15 per cent because of the better economies of scale achieved from distributing fixed operating cost across 50 passengers, rather than just 19.

Meanwhile, Jetstar yesterday announced it was including Palmerston North on its new regional service.