Air NZ

An Australian consumer watchdog is expected to release its decision on the proposed alliance between Air New Zealand and Pacific Blue by the end of the year.

The price of last-minute air fares out of Dunedin is upsetting some travellers, and prompting renewed calls for competition.

Investigators looking at a near miss between a light plane and an Air New Zealand passenger aircraft near Mercer south of Auckland last year have blamed air traffic controllers for not following procedures.

More stand-by flights will be offered out of Dunedin International Airport in the future, after the Air New Zealand scheme ended last month.

Changes made to the Queenstown Airport Corporation's statement of intent nine days before the sale of 24.99% of shares to Auckland International Airport made public last July are at the centre of claims made by two parties seeking a judicial review of the decision, High Court documents reveal.

Air New Zealand has announced it will boost domestic capacity - including the Dunedin-Auckland sector by nearly 50% next year - just a week after Pacific Blue announced it would leave the New Zealand domestic market.

Air New Zealand has booked a slight gain on operating earnings for the full year - up 3% from $688 million to $708 million - but revealed a decline in long-haul demand and falls in capacity and cargo.

Craigs Investment Partners is refusing to be drawn into a public argument with Air New Zealand about the stake Auckland International Airport Ltd (AIAL) has taken in the Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC).

The 2008-09 financial year provided the perfect storm for airlines with record oil prices and significant increases in global capacity followed by a global financial crisis and demand destruction. Through all of this, Air New Zealand remained profitable.

An instrument failure on an Air New Zealand Airbus flight from Queenstown to Auckland caused a four-hour delay in the resort for 125 passengers on Thursday.