Air New Zealand cuts regional airfares
Air New Zealand is cutting airfares on many regional routes, including reductions into Tauranga to help stimulate tourism into the region.
The package of lead in airfare reductions announced today comes hard on the heels of the airline's special invitation only "Think Regional" tourism forum held in Nelson last week.
The forum was attended by representatives from Nelson, New Plymouth, Rotorua, Marlborough, Hawke's Bay, Tauranga and Queenstown and was aimed at identifying fast-track pragmatic and achievable tourism growth strategies.
The regions were selected as those which have a strong track record of constructive engagement with the airline and others in the industry to collectively benefit regional tourism growth.
Group General Manager Australasia, Bruce Parton, said the lead-in airfare changes announced today follow on from recently announced cuts to domestic trunk fares and are a direct response to feedback from those who attended the forum.
"Whilst we are now working on longer-terms strategic initiatives with each of these regions, one immediate action Air New Zealand can take is to reduce fares to make leisure travel even more attractive. We already announced a big reduction in the price of fares into Queenstown and today we're pleased to also deliver fare reductions into all of the other regions who participated", he said.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce CEO Max Mason said, "The forum showed Air New Zealand's willingness to engage constructively with stakeholders, and as a result fares have been reduced. I anticipate leisure travellers who can be quite price sensitive will take advantage of this great opportunity to visit Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty."
