More Wellingtonians could follow more Aucklanders in making weekend breaks in Queenstown a regular getaway, when Air New Zealand boosts capacity between the capital and the resort this winter.
The national carrier announced yesterday it will offer 44% more seats a week between Wellington and Queenstown from July to mid-October. Most of the extra capacity will be achieved through upgrading services from the 68-seat ATR turboprop aircraft to 133-seat Boeing 737-300 jets.
New Zealand and Pacific Islands group general manager Cam Wallace said Queenstown ''is a hugely popular destination over the ski season and this up-gauge will replace some of the capacity that competitor Jetstar has recently withdrawn from the route''.
The transtasman alliance of Air NZ and Virgin Australia announced in April an additional 30,000 extra seats between Queenstown and Australia over the winter season of July to September.
Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd said it was ''very pleasing'' to have more capacity on the Wellington route. There was ''significant potential'' to increase visitor numbers from the city, not just for winter, but all year round, he said.
''We've seen Auckland growing significantly over the last number of years, as more capacity has gone into that route into Queenstown, and Auckland is now seeing Queenstown as not a one-off holiday spot, but a place they can return to regularly, for the different seasonal experiences and the things they can do here.
''I think Wellington has that absolute potential.''
While Wellington Airport was not considered a connection hub from international markets, as Christchurch and Auckland are, the capital was a gateway for the entire lower North Island and a major opportunity, Mr Budd said.
''It's somewhat untapped in getting those domestic visitors to Queenstown and I think that's partly been a function of limited capacity on that route in previous years and as a result the air fares have been a little prohibitive,'' he said.
''Jetstar started flying that route over a year ago and that's absolutely added capacity and competitiveness, so we have seen good growth out of Wellington and we'd like to see that continue.''
Hundreds of passengers on board seven flights to and from Queenstown Airport were disrupted by a cancellation or delays due to fog yesterday morning.
Minor delays of up to 10 minutes continued to impact Jetstar's late-afternoon Auckland departure. Arrivals and departures returned to schedule from 5pm yesterday.
