Aussies told: Fly to Dunedin, drive to Queenstown

An Australian travel wholesaler is encouraging Brisbane families intending to visit Queenstown to bypass the resort's airport and fly to Dunedin to access cheaper flights.

Travel wholesaler Kiss Travel managing director Craig Mathews said his clients had a "heart attack" when they saw the price of air fares from Brisbane to Queenstown.

"Many families just give up and don't go."

The resort risked pricing itself out of the market, especially with low-budget airlines offering Australians cheap air fares to other parts of the globe, Mr Mathews said.

He is based in Darwin and handles bookings throughout Australia.

Recently, it was cheaper to fly from Brisbane to Los Angeles than to fly from Brisbane to Queenstown.

Snow enthusiasts might head to North American ski slopes unless air fares to the resort dropped, he said.

To minimise the cost, he encouraged families to fly to Dunedin, hire a car and drive to Queenstown, a journey of about three and a-half hours.

Mr Mathews said he was disappointed a proposal for start-up airline Pacific Wings to fly from Brisbane or Sydney to Invercargill had been dropped, as that would have provided a closer access point for Queenstown.

Air New Zealand Tasman-Pacific general manager Glen Sowry said the average fare from Australia to Queenstown was "higher than other Tasman sectors".

"Customers are prepared to pay a premium to fly directly into Queenstown," he said,Air New Zealand had increased capacity into Queenstown 30% last winter and demand for direct flights from Australia "continues to grow strongly".

Dunedin International Airport chief executive John McCall said the entry of low-cost carrier Pacific Blue, along with Air New Zealand announcing it would offer flights from March 31, had resulted in competitive fares on the Brisbane-Dunedin route.

An increasing number of Australians, including those with connections from Perth and Melbourne, were flying through Brisbane to take advantage of cheap air fares to Dunedin, Mr McCall said.

Queenstown Airport Corporation chief executive Steve Sanderson said fares to Queenstown from Australia were competitive, and passengers took more than just price into account.

Destination Queenstown chief executive Tony Everitt said flying to Queenstown was more affordable than ever. He said there would be "little savings" for families if they were to fly to Dunedin then drive "three and a-half hours or so to their actual holiday destination in Queenstown".

hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz