After nearly 1,000 days away, Virgin Australia is back in New Zealand. Flights from Sydney and Brisbane relaunched Virgin Australia’s New Zealand operations today, touching down at Queenstown International Airport. Melbourne-Queenstown services will kick off tomorrow.
The Sydney and Brisbane services will operate daily, while Melbourne will operate four times per week (increasing to daily between 12 December 2022 – 29 January 2023).
The resumed services come in time for the summer holiday period and are marked with the ‘Return to Queenstown’ sale, with 15,000 fares from $409 economy return available for the next five days (until midnight 6 November 2022).
On board the first flight from Brisbane today there were even ‘Peace Pavlovas’ given to passengers in a nod to the ongoing (but friendly) rivalry between Aussies and Kiwis over the origins of the dessert.
“Today is a significant day for Virgin Australia with our first New Zealand flight in over two years,” Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said.
“Australians and New Zealanders have a close bond and we are proud to be creating a new gateway between the countries for friends and family to visit each other, businesses to flourish and holiday-makers to seek adventure with more choice and great value airfares.
“Value, choice and great service are at the heart of Virgin Australia, and we look forward to bringing these values to Queenstown with our expanded network.
“We are proud to continue growing the Virgin Australia international network which now offers over 500 destinations around the world. We have the most exceptional international airline partners and they help us deliver the very best and most easily reached global destinations.”
High holiday demand
Virgin Australia Group Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Alistair Hartley said the airline was experiencing “strong demand across our international network over the Christmas school holiday period”.
“Our flights to Queenstown will increase to 21 per week between 12 December and 29 January, with a daily service operating from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, to help meet the demand,” he added.
Virgin’s return to New Zealand comes after the carrier launched its Bring on Wonderful campaign and Middle Seat Lottery, and amid its continued international expansion.
Visit the Virgin Australia website for more.
