Aircraft

Jetstar, Australian carrier Qantas' low-cost subsidiary, has launched a Wellington-Christchurch service in New Zealand and introduced additional Auckland-Wellington and Auckland-Christchurch services in the country.

In addition to the new once-daily Wellington-Christchurch service, Jetstar has increased the Auckland-Wellington service to three times daily and Auckland-Christchurch to six times daily.

The airline, which took over the New Zealand domestic operations from Qantas on 10 June, says that the addition of a third Airbus A320 aircraft into the country has made the services possible and allowed the airline to introduce a new schedule with better timings.

"The introduction of a third A320 aircraft into our domestic New Zealand fleet has provided the appropriate opportunity to introduce a more refined schedule across our network," says Bruce Buchanan, Jetstar's chief executive.

"Importantly, this includes better timed services, more time buffers throughout the operating day to recover from weather related delays, and longer block and turn times in the respective Wellington and Queenstown markets."

Jetstar offers 84 weekly return services between Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown, and 42 weekly flights across the Tasman Sea from Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand. A Qantas code share is offered on all Jetstar domestic and trans-Tasman New Zealand services, says the airline.