Qantas starting to call NZ home

Monday, 13 October 2025

Qantas is beginning to call Auckland part of its home market.

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Grant Bradley is an aviation and business journalist.

OPINION: Qantas and its subsidiary Jetstar are set to increase operations in New Zealand beyond the surge in seats already announced, with more domestic flights and signals that one of its popular long haul routes to the United States could return.

The Qantas Group now flies more across the Tasman than Air New Zealand with just over 50% of seats to its rival’s 45% of capacity.

Qantas International boss Cam Wallace says the group increasingly sees this country as part of its home market, as Jetstar is challenging Air NZ on a new domestic route, and Qantas uses Auckland Airport increasingly as an eastern hub for flights to North America.

The importance of New Zealand is underscored by the airline’s decision to use it as a test ground for its new Project Sunrise ultra long range aircraft, late next year flying them across the Tasman to Auckland before they are used on the world’s longest flights from Sydney to London and New York.

‘’More and more we’re referring to Auckland and New Zealand as part of our home market. It's probably not something all Kiwis really want to hear, but it means we have more investment and more flying,’’ says Wallace, an Air New Zealand veteran who started at the prestigious Qantas job two years ago.

Qantas is now pouring capacity into the Tasman, once described as a bloodbath for airlines as airfares dipped below $100. But it is now profitable for the two main carriers. While Air NZ is also meeting strong demand with more seats, it remains constrained by a shortage of aircraft. Qantas doesn’t have the same issues with engine maintenance grounding planes.

Wallace says that post Covid, Qantas Group has grown its overall trans-Tasman capacity by 23%. In cities south of Auckland - Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown - it sees even more opportunities and already the percentage jump in capacity is even greater.

The Qantas Group now flies more across the Tasman than Air New Zealand.

‘’That’s material growth,’’ says Wallace, who was once a contender for the top job at Air NZ and into his third decade in airlines.

‘’I don't think I've seen as positive operating conditions on the trans-Tasman as we have now. We're the carrier that's growing in New Zealand and to New Zealand.’’

Qantas’ missteps are out of the spotlight in this country but has over the past few years come under fire in its home market for high fares, enormous pay for its former boss Alan Joyce, more recently cyber-security lapses and now for closing some regional crew bases. And while Jetstar was fined $2.2m here for misleading consumers over compensation rights, the airline and its Qantas parent were praised earlier this year following a Consumer NZ study which found their trans-Tasman fares were nearly 17% below those of Air NZ.

Auckland is increasingly seen as a Kiwi Qantas hub to feed in traffic from Australia’s eastern cities where they can transfer just as seamlessly or in some cases more easily to direct flights to New York. Qantas now has double the capacity of Air New Zealand to JFK and according to one news site’s interpretation of US Department of Transportation figures, the Kiwi carrier is been ‘’eaten alive’’ on the route.

Qantas’ Auckland-Los Angeles flight that was discontinued in 2012 could be a candidate for being restored when there is sufficient aircraft capacity. Qantas is fully aware of how profitable the route is for Air New Zealand and the aggressive approach of ‘’flying on top of’’ its rival would fit in with its current strategy.

Likewise, it is understood the Qantas group is eyeing more flights to the Pacific Islands out of this country to under-served markets such as Samoa and Tonga, which would create another competitive headache for Air NZ. Jetstar planes are being redeployed following the closure of Jetstar Asia, but the low cost carrier has already based one extra plane in New Zealand allowing for more flights to Dunedin and is also providing direct competition for Air NZ on the Christchurch to Hamilton route. Sadly for flyers, there are no planes or plans to restart Jetstar flights to New Zealand’s regions.

And Qantas last week offered trans-Tasman sale fares around pre-pandemic levels, in another sign of its assertiveness at a time when it is about to restore its Auckland to Perth and Auckland to Adelaide services.

By fleet size and revenue Qantas is around three to four times that of Air NZ and is highly profitable, so it has plenty of muscle to keep flexing here.