Kiwis were so excited by Jetstar’s expansion into regional New Zealand that the airline’s special launch fares caused the budget carrier’s website to crash.
Three months after revealing plans to expand its New Zealand network, the Qantas off-shoot this week announced the addition of services to Nelson, Napier, Plymouth and Palmerston.
The new services are in addition to the airline’s existing flights to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown. Altogether, the airline now has nine New Zealand destinations in its network.
Attended announcement of @Jetstar_NZ flights to New Plymouth, Napier, Palm Nth & Nelson this am. Gr8 for regional NZ pic.twitter.com/xtrYjhJsGq
— Steven Joyce (@stevenljoyce) August 30, 2015
Commencing 1 December, Jetstar will fly Nelson to Auckland and Napier to Auckland.
Starting 1 February the carrier service Plymouth-Auckland, Palmerston North-Auckland and Nelson-Wellington.
Five 50-seat Bombardier Q300 turboprops will be utilised on the new routes, with base fares between NZ$45-NZ$49.
However, to celebrate the launch of services, the airline unveiled special NZ$9 fares yesterday. The sale was so popular it overwhelmed the airline’s website.
Thanks for celebrating with us and @BreakfastonOne @PNCityCouncil #PalmerstonNorth #JetstargoesRegional pic.twitter.com/ok3EKu0o8x
— JetstarNZ (@Jetstar_NZ) August 31, 2015
The sale was originally scheduled to run until around 1.30pm, however, the computer server crashed before the end time. To make up for the technical glitch, Jetstar added two hours to the sale.
Jetstar CEO, David Hall, said he believes the new routes will contribute to New Zealand’s local economy.
“We believe the routes we’ve announced today offer the strongest opportunities to grow the market and make a real difference to local economies and locals’ wallets.”
David Hall, Jetstar CEO
