Air New Zealand is this week flying its last direct flights between Wellington and Invercargill, with passengers wanting to fly the route now needing to fly via Christchurch and connect there to another flight.
The route typically saw two daily return services, and was one of the longest on the domestic network at 2 hrs 10 mins. It was the longest Air New Zealand route flown by a Dash 8 aircraft.
Ditching the route sees passengers wanting to fly the route now facing a fare increase of around 50% across all fare levels for these indirect flights vs the cost of the direct flights. This mirrors changes being made across the regional network - I wrote about the changes to flights to Rotorua last month.
Direct flights started at $99 for P class fares right up to $495 for full priced Y class fares, whereas the cost of indirect flights will see entry level P class fares selling for $142 and full priced Y fares selling for $688.
One issue many passengers will now see is that booking individual fares from Wellington to Christchurch and from Christchurch to Invercargill (or return) can be cheaper than booking a single fare between Wellington and Invercargill. This is due to something known as a "married fare" as Air New Zealand need the same booking class to be available on both flights to price a single fare - but there could be two fares in different booking classes that can be booked individually on the route for a cheaper price.
As an example looking at a random date in early February fare prices for a single ticket between Wellington and Invercargill range between $294 and $628
But Air New Zealand sell seats between Wellington and Christchurch for as low as $64
And seats between Christchurch and Invercargill for as low as $202
Somebody wanting to fly from Wellington to Invercargill in the morning could buy a single ticket leaving Wellington at 6:30am and landing in Invercargill at 10:10am for $340 - or they could buy a $64 ticket on the 6:35am flight from Wellington to Christchurch, and a $253 ticket on the 8:45am flight from Christchurch to Invercargill for a total of $317, a saving of $23 for the exact same flights.
Another option for somebody wanting to fly from Wellington to Invercargill in the afternoon could be a single ticket leaving Wellington at 3:00pm and landing in Invercargill at 6:00pm for $453 - or they could buy a $64 seat on the 2:30pm flight from Wellington to Christchurch, and a $227 seat on the 4:35pm flight from Christchurch to Invercargill for a total of $291, a saving of $162 for an extra 30 min transit in Christchurch.
This is however not something I would recommend that anybody does. Air New Zealand is under no obligation to provide any support if you misconnect at Christchurch due to a delayed flights when booking single tickets, and anybody booking two flights this needs to be fully aware of the risks of doing this.
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Greg Foran said in a radio interview in late 2024 that the airline was losing $50 per passenger on the route. The end of direct flights ironically sees the price of every fare being raised by between $43 and $193 - having flown the route myself last week and with a lot more travel planned there for the middle of the year I would have far preferred to pay slightly more for the direct fares rather than the added inconvenience of transiting Christchurch.
Those of us who have been inconvenienced with the ongoing cancellation of Dash 8 flights and maintenance issues with the aging fleet could be convinced that the real reasons for the cancellation of the direct route is to in effect free up an aircraft - with the two daily direct services utilising an aircraft for close to 10 hours per day, it makes it an easy route to cull.
