The Qantas Group has welcomed the New Zealand government’s announcement naming both Jetstar and Qantas as contracted suppliers for government air travel, commencing 1 March 2017.
It’s the first time Jetstar has been named as an official supplier under a ten year All-of-Government (AoG) air travel contract. Qantas is a supplier under the current contract.
Jetstar Group CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, said the airline was now firmly established in New Zealand and able to provide the government with a choice for domestic jet and regional travel to a range of destinations alongside Qantas’ Trans-Tasman and long haul services.
“This is great news for New Zealand taxpayers,” Ms Hrdlicka said.
“Government officials and employees will now be able to travel with Jetstar’s low fares for domestic and regional flights.
“As we have done for consumers, we’re bringing more choice and competition for government air travel.
“Together Qantas and Jetstar provide an integrated travel solution for New Zealand covering both regional and major cities as well as a far reaching international network.”
Ms Hrdlicka said that with short flight times within New Zealand, a low fares domestic airline option made economic sense for government travel.
“Jetstar began domestic services in New Zealand nearly eight years ago and in that time we’ve helped to make domestic flights much more affordable for Kiwi travellers and grown significantly, offering up to 500 flights a week across eleven routes and nine destinations.
“We’ve continued to invest in the market, adding 600,000 seats on our new regional network, and we now carry well over 2 million domestic passengers every year in New Zealand,” Ms Hrdlicka said.
“We look forward to being of service to more government customers now that we are an official supplier.”
Under the new contract Qantas will continue to be a supplier to the Government for Tasman and long haul travel as it has done since the first AoG contract in 2012. The carrier operates more than 230 weekly services between Australia and four destinations in New Zealand, with onward connections from Australia across more than 600 weekly services to 27 international destinations.