Nelson airline Originair is gearing up to make its first flight to Wellington this weekend with seats selling steadily, says owner Robert Inglis. The airline will fly between Nelson and Wellington every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, commencing on Sunday this week. The standard price for the airfare is $99. Inglis said sales were as expected. "We have performed to budget expectations," said Inglis. Inglis said the airline was giving the Wellington route a "soft" introduction by flying four days per week. "We'll consider whether we do more after the first month of operations, we haven't been in a position to do a daily service yet," he said. The new route begins as Jetstar made the announcement it would also join Originair, Air New Zealand and Sounds Air to fly the Wellington route from Nelson Airport. Inglis said he was not concerned by the competition. "I've noted the [Jetstar] service times are in the middle of the day which I imagine are planned to connect with their Wellington to Sydney services. Our service has only ever been planned for the morning and evening peaks," he said. The airline commenced a new route between Nelson and Palmerston North last month, which has continued to perform well, he said. Additional routes for the airline were not on the cards as yet but were not completely out of the question, said Inglis. Obviously we would never say never, but it's not on our agenda at the moment." Jetstar said this month it would begin flying the Nelson-Auckland route on December 1, and Nelson-Wellington on February 1. Kiwi Regional Airlines plans to begin its services between Dunedin and Nelson and Nelson and Hamilton on October 27. The increased airline competition sparked a price war at the beginning of the month with Jetstar and Air New Zealand offering a $9 fare sale. Industry and tourism leaders have welcomed the competition, both to keep airfares competitive and to bring more visitors to the region.
Are they only doing certain days to link with their Palmy services? I think they could do 7 days a week services as $99 would be very competitive.
ReplyDeleteThis week has seen 3's and 4's with a few in the teens.
ReplyDeleteBut they are giving away so many seats and selling fares via grab one and trade me.
It's about brand awareness. The more promotional stuff they do, it's getting the word out there that Origin Air fly from Palmerston North to Nelson and to Wellington. And it's not in some ancient Chieftain or Aztec ect. It's a proper 19 seater turboprop aircraft. Despite Inglis's failings in the past with Origin Pacific. I hope they can make this one a success. By giving away seats, using platforms like Grabone and Trademe it's building that brand awareness. Hats off to them, they are doing it right.
ReplyDeleteFlights most days NSN - PMR are over $200
DeleteThought they were $169
ReplyDeleteTheir fares arnt fixed, they sell in blocks at different prices like most airlines.
Delete$169 is the entry fare
From outside looking in it looks like they're trying to create almost a duopoly situation for passengers travelling between PMR & NSN.
DeleteIt seems like they charge close to but less than Air NZ via WLG or CHC for the direct alternative.