Is Qantas about to muscle in on another Air New Zealand route?

Friday, 16 August 2024

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson has spoken about her desire to see its Auckland-Perth service revived.

Air New Zealand is the only airline flying between the two centres.

Qantas has recently announced it is adding two more weekly flights between Auckland and New York.

Qantas could be about to target another Air New Zealand route, this time Auckland-Perth.

The Australian carrier’s CEO Vanessa Hudson has spoken about her desire to see the service revived, having been a seasonal route in the past.

Currently Air New Zealand is the only airline flying between the two centres. Malaysian operator Batik Air was competition until recently before it suspended its service.

Speaking to Executive Traveller, Hudson said that she would “love to see Perth-Auckland because it will connect to our New York flights”.

She added the service to Western Australia would allow Kiwis to link up with Qantas flights to Europe.

“We’re thinking all the time about how do we make sure that we get the right connections that maximise the advantage that we’ve got with our domestic network and then how we feed that onto international.”

Air New Zealand recently started flying its aircraft between Auckland and Perth again. It had been in a leasing agreement with Spanish carrier Wamos while it grappled with engine supply issues.

Hudson’s comments come as Qantas steps up its Auckland to New York flights.

The airline announced it will fly six times a week to the Big Apple from October 10, double the number of weekly flights by Air New Zealand on its flagship route.