Wellingtonians will be able to fly directly to Fiji from June, on the first year-round service directly to the holiday destination. Fiji Airways and Wellington Airport today announced to the new route would fly directly from Wellington to Nadi, operating twice a week. The new service would add up to 34,000 seats to Wellington's market, beginning from June 25 and operating on Thursdays and Sundays. Wellington Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said Fiji Airways would be the first airline to offer a year round service directly from Wellington to the Pacific Islands. Bookings for flights were available from today. "We have worked with Fiji Airways for a number of years on the opportunity the Wellington market presents and are delighted they have committed to the region," Sanderson said. "This service will be extremely popular both here and in Fiji, for holiday makers and everyone visiting family and friends." The service would provide connecting opportunities throughout the Pacific, as well as to North America via Fiji Airways' new A330 aircraft. Wellington residents travelling to Fiji and to the United States have grown by more than 20 per cent over the last two years. United States visitors travelling to Wellington, meanwhile, have increased by 35 per cent over the same period. Mayor Celia Wade Brown said the service would be an excellent connection to and from the United States. Fiji Airways managing director and chief executive Stefan Pichler said the new route reflected its commitment to the New Zealand market. Fiji Airways has been operating since 1951 and was previously named Air Pacific.
A year round direct service will be awesome. Having to travel via Auckland makes it that much harder to justify a short stay trip to Fiji as you loose the best part of a day just getting there.
ReplyDeleteGreat initiative Fiji Airways. This will open up all sorts of options for Wellingtonians to access parts of Asia and the States via Nadi without being held hostage by Air New Zeraland and there "you will tansit Auckland whether you like it or not mentality"
ReplyDeleteIf you want to go to LA then sure, the new Fiji Airways timetable all of twice a week will match up. Considering the extent of the Asia network is Hong Kong and the days of service to Wellington do not match flights to Hong Kong, I don't think many people would even rate these flights as an option.
DeleteLike it or not does not change the fact that a: The Wellington airport is not large enough for long haul destinations with a load that will turn a profit. b: The Wellington region does not have a large enough catchment for stand alone long haul business. In fact Auckland does not either and a large percentage of the North America flights are filled by transhipping from Aussie. Air Pac has done Wellington Fiji before and it did not make money then, I expect the same out come this time as well.
ReplyDeleteNo one has proven anything with regard to long haul ex Wellington yet, although "studies" by consultancy firm EY suggest that there is a limited market, whether anyone will have a go and if they do, whether they can secure enough of the market remains to be seen.
DeleteThis is a real opportunity for Fiji Airways to be innovative. While all the reports so far indicate B738's on the route why not use the A330 for one of the flights. It could operate WlLG-NAN-LAX for example. If the pricing was attrctive enough the catchment area would not just be Wellington but would be the lower Nth Island and top of the South Island as well.
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