Not ‘S…tstar’: Jetstar wants Kiwis to give it another try

Thursday, 3 July 2025

Dunedin Airport celebrated its first international flight since 2019. Jetstar, city officials and airport leaders marked the milestone with speeches, smiles—and a proudly early arrival from Australia.

Jetstar has heard what you say about it: ‘Always late’, ‘cancels’, ‘Shitstar’, and wants Kiwis to give it another go.

The airline has announced four new routes this year, Dunedin-Gold Coast, Hamilton-Gold Coast, Hamilton-Sydney as well as Christchurch-Cairns. It also increased capacity on domestic routes.

Last year, the low-cost carrier apologised for 'letting customers down' after it admitted it had not paid some Kiwi travellers, who were legally entitled to compensation, after their domestic flights were delayed or cancelled.

It also admitted its communication and customer service for New Zealanders had been below par, particularly amid the pandemic.

Now, its survey of 1000 New Zealanders found that more than three in four Kiwis admitted to having changed a negative first impression into a positive one, for example, loving a food they once hated, or initially disliking a now close friend.

The first Jetstar flight from Sydney touched down for the first time at Hamilton Airport last month.

Jetstar’s head of New Zealand, Shelley Musk, was confident that Kiwis would also change their perception of the low-cost carrier if they gave it a go.

“We've worked incredibly hard making changes and rolling out a range of initiatives to become a really reliable airline, but we know there are still some outdated perceptions out there,” she said.

“The results of this have been consistently reflected in our improved operational performance and reliability rates.

“We would never claim to offer all the bells and whistles of a full-service carrier, however, we are reliable, safe, affordable and we give Kiwis the choice to only pay for what they need.”

According to Jetstar New Zealand, its cancellations for domestic flights reduced by 67% from 2023 to 2024, from 3.7% to 1.2%.

Air New Zealand chief operating officer Alex Marren said its cancellation rate over that period had improved too.

“Air New Zealand operates a comprehensive domestic jet network, with over 35,000 jet flights annually across six domestic jet ports. In 2023, our cancellation rate for domestic jet services was 2.5%, improving to 1.6% in 2024, and tracking at 1.8% in 2025. Across all three years, our controllable cancellation rate – which excludes factors outside of our control, such as weather – has remained consistent at 1.1%.”

The latest on-time performance (OTP) data from the Ministry of Transport for April looked at Air New Zealand’s and Jetstar’s services between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown.

In April 2025, the cancellation rate for jet services was 0.8%. That’s down on 2.1% in March and 1.6% in February, though January was 0.6%.

Air NZ’s cancellation rate was 0.7% and Jetstar’s was 1.3%.

Air NZ said its cancellations were primarily due to Cyclone Tam (April 15-19), severe winds in Wellington and wind shear in Queenstown.

Jetstar reported that its performance in April was impacted by weather-related delays in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington and airport infrastructure, combined with seasonal boarding delays.

Cancellations were highest on the Queenstown–Auckland route, with 1.5% of services cancelled.

Wellington-Queenstown, Dunedin-Auckland and Auckland-Dunedin all had zero cancellations in April. Auckland-Dunedin was also the most punctual, with 89.2% of flights departing and arriving on time.

What about the regional routes?

April was the first time the regional airlines and routes have been included in the Ministry’s report. Jetstar is not included in this data as they do not service the regions.

Origin Air made no cancellations in April.

For April 2025, the cancellation rate for the month was 5.2%.

Air Chathams had a cancellation rate of 5.7% in April. It said many of the delays during the month were the result of bad weather which also created congestion at the airports when aircraft were unable to operate.

It also said that Chatham Islands flights were essential for the carriage of goods to and from the island. Due to the bulky nature of the cargo carried (especially from the mainland to the island), there were often delays to allow all the necessary supplies to be loaded.

Air New Zealand’s regional services had a 4.6% cancellation rate for April, which the airline said peaked during Cyclone Tam, particularly in northern areas such as Rotorua, Tauranga, and Whangārei, with additional impact from bird strikes and limited crew availability.

More than a fifth of Barrier Air’s flights were cancelled in April. It said 87% of cancellations were attributable to Cyclone Tam.

Golden Bay Air had a 6.3% cancellation on its two most regular routes, Wellington-Takaka and Takaka-Wellington. The airline reported that bad weather was the main cause of delays.

Origin Air and Sounds Air had no cancellations in April, with more than 90% of its flights arriving and departing on time.

Sunair, which operates four- and six-seater aircraft, also had zero cancellations. However, if no passengers book a flight on a given day, the service is not operated. Flights that were advertised but not operated because there were no bookings have been omitted from Sunair’s OTP data.