Post by flyjoe180 on Sept 6, 2007 14:52:41 GMT 12
www.stuff.co.nz/4192461a10.html
Air New Zealand is to ground its budget airline Freedom Air from the end of March.
Palmerston North looks to be a big loser from the move which is part of a revamp of Air New Zealand's Tasman and Pacific Island services.
The airline announced today that from March 30, next year Air New Zealand services would replace those of Freedom Air on the Tasman route.
Freedom Air was set up more than 10 years ago and has carried more than 4 million travellers since then.
Group general manager short haul airlines Norm Thompson said the decision to replace Freedom Air with Air New Zealand was made to provide customers with a more consistent and higher quality travel service.
"The reality is that the price of airfares has fallen dramatically over the past 10 years, and today there is little difference between Freedom and Air New Zealand fares," he said.
The move meant that Freedom Air's direct services from Palmerston North to Sydney and Brisbane would be suspended from March 30, with that aircraft capacity put into other sectors, where there was far stronger passenger demand.
"While our direct service to Brisbane has been popular during some months, bookings on the direct service to Sydney are not strong enough for us to continue to justify a commercial Tasman operation out of the region," Mr Thompson said.
"We had been hoping to strengthen demand for Palmerston North services by combining Qantas and Air New Zealand demand with the proposed Tasman codeshare arrangement. But when this proposal was discontinued, the future of such routes became far less certain."
Air New Zealand expected Wellington Airport to be the main beneficiary of the discontinuance of trans-Tasman services to and from Palmerston North, Mr Thompson said.
The switch from Freedom Air to Air New Zealand would have a number of advantages for many passengers, including the ability for them to earn Air New Zealand airpoints and enjoy seamless booking services.
No redundancies were anticipated. Affected staff were being consulted and would be offered jobs within the group.
The ending of Freedom Air services is among changes to be progressively introduced during the next 18 months.
Others were to include a more spacious section of economy seating, new in-flight entertainment services and new food and beverage menus.
As part of a review, Air New Zealand had surveyed frequent trans-Tasman customers, and the overwhelming preference was for the airline to focus on upgrading and enhancing services, Mr Thompson said.
Air New Zealand would also alter the configuration on its 767 and A320 aircraft to allow more than 20 per cent of customers travelling in economy on these aircraft to enjoy more space and greater comfort.
That would see greater seat pitch created at the front of the aircraft, where frequent fliers often travelled, without affecting the pitch at the back of the aircraft, he said.
That would be done by removing a galley on the A320 aircraft and the removal of a row of economy seating on the 767.
In June, Air New Zealand announced it would spend more than $50 million equipping its A320s and 767s with individual on-demand personal entertainment screens.
Air New Zealand is to ground its budget airline Freedom Air from the end of March.
Palmerston North looks to be a big loser from the move which is part of a revamp of Air New Zealand's Tasman and Pacific Island services.
The airline announced today that from March 30, next year Air New Zealand services would replace those of Freedom Air on the Tasman route.
Freedom Air was set up more than 10 years ago and has carried more than 4 million travellers since then.
Group general manager short haul airlines Norm Thompson said the decision to replace Freedom Air with Air New Zealand was made to provide customers with a more consistent and higher quality travel service.
"The reality is that the price of airfares has fallen dramatically over the past 10 years, and today there is little difference between Freedom and Air New Zealand fares," he said.
The move meant that Freedom Air's direct services from Palmerston North to Sydney and Brisbane would be suspended from March 30, with that aircraft capacity put into other sectors, where there was far stronger passenger demand.
"While our direct service to Brisbane has been popular during some months, bookings on the direct service to Sydney are not strong enough for us to continue to justify a commercial Tasman operation out of the region," Mr Thompson said.
"We had been hoping to strengthen demand for Palmerston North services by combining Qantas and Air New Zealand demand with the proposed Tasman codeshare arrangement. But when this proposal was discontinued, the future of such routes became far less certain."
Air New Zealand expected Wellington Airport to be the main beneficiary of the discontinuance of trans-Tasman services to and from Palmerston North, Mr Thompson said.
The switch from Freedom Air to Air New Zealand would have a number of advantages for many passengers, including the ability for them to earn Air New Zealand airpoints and enjoy seamless booking services.
No redundancies were anticipated. Affected staff were being consulted and would be offered jobs within the group.
The ending of Freedom Air services is among changes to be progressively introduced during the next 18 months.
Others were to include a more spacious section of economy seating, new in-flight entertainment services and new food and beverage menus.
As part of a review, Air New Zealand had surveyed frequent trans-Tasman customers, and the overwhelming preference was for the airline to focus on upgrading and enhancing services, Mr Thompson said.
Air New Zealand would also alter the configuration on its 767 and A320 aircraft to allow more than 20 per cent of customers travelling in economy on these aircraft to enjoy more space and greater comfort.
That would see greater seat pitch created at the front of the aircraft, where frequent fliers often travelled, without affecting the pitch at the back of the aircraft, he said.
That would be done by removing a galley on the A320 aircraft and the removal of a row of economy seating on the 767.
In June, Air New Zealand announced it would spend more than $50 million equipping its A320s and 767s with individual on-demand personal entertainment screens.
