Overwhelming response to Air New Zealand's low cost air travel

1 August 2002

There has been an unprecedented customer response to Air New Zealand's new Express Class with record numbers of New Zealanders booking the new low cost fares through the Air New Zealand website and 0800 reservation number.

In the hours immediately after yesterday's announcement of the new everyday low fares, there were 33,000 visits to www.airnewzealand.co.nz and more than 10,000 people contacted the 0800 737 000 reservations number to enquire about, or book flights.

Air New Zealand says today its on track to treble or quadruple its usual daily sales - in other words an historic high for sales in one day. 

"New Zealanders have asked for compellingly lower fares, we've delivered, so it is great to now see the New Zealand public getting behind our initiative. I've heard so many stories today about people who for the first time can now afford to travel by air," said Andrew Miller, Chief Operating Officer.

One example is the caller who said that the new low cost fares mean they can now travel together as a family for the first time.

Another caller thanked Air New Zealand for the new fares as it meant their children would be able to visit their grandfather in Christchurch for the first time ever, while another traveller said the new fares meant they could fly all the way to Dunedin rather than flying to Christchurch and then driving the rest of the journey.

The huge public demand for the new Express fares has resulted in pressure on Air New Zealand computer systems. At times during the day booking systems through the web-site and call centre have been overloaded. However, Air New Zealand IT experts believe that despite the incredible load, they've now stablised the systems and are adding extra resource to handle the increased volumes. 

Three distinct fare categories - Smart Savers, Flexi Savers and Fully Flexi fares have been introduced and are available through all sales channels - the website, call centre, Air New Zealand Travelcentres and from travel agents.

The lowest fares will be available for people booking on the Air New Zealand web-site. For those wanting the personal touch, there'll be a $10 per sector service fee for talking with a customer service representative on our 0800 number or at Travelcentres. 

Announcing the fares yesterday, Managing Director and CEO, Ralph Norris, said it represents the most significant fare reduction programme yet undertaken by Air New Zealand across its domestic services.

Average fares across the Air New Zealand domestic network will decrease by 20 percent, and by about 28 percent on main trunk routes. 

"Our promise is that twice as many fares will be sold at the lowest prices - our objective is to encourage people to fly," Mr Norris said.