And more Tauranga flights on the cards too

Air New Zealand is promising more cheap flights and a revamp of the Tauranga Airport Koru lounge, after a decision to fund Tourism Bay of Plenty $612,000. The company provided a letter of support towards Tourism Bay of Plenty's bid to become a Destination Management Organisation, which was voted in at yesterday's Tauranga City Council meeting. Air New Zealand regional affairs manager Ian Collier said he welcomed Tauranga City Council's decision "as we've been working closely with Tourism Bay of Plenty over the past few years to support its proposed shift to incorporating destination management as one of its core functions". Collier said the airline was committed to supporting the sustainable growth of tourism in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty. "This includes initiatives such as increasing the number of seats into and out of Tauranga by around 80,000 over the next 12 months (subject to demand forecasts), offering more than 50,000 seats ex-Tauranga at less than $100, the development of a new Air New Zealand lounge at Tauranga Airport which will be almost four times the size of the existing facility, showcasing the region in our inflight magazine, working with Ngati Awa to promote White Island as an iconic tourism attraction and continued co-marketing opportunities in Australia."

Source : https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12062174