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Research conducted by Consumer NZ suggests Air New Zealand’s flight prices have risen dramatically over the past five years, but Air New Zealand claims the comparisons used are “misleading”.
Consumer NZ has compared fares for 11 Air New Zealand flights in 2023 and 2024 with fares for equivalent flights taken from 2019 to 2021, and found all flights, bar one, were more expensive three or four years later. Price increases varied between 34 per cent and 297 per cent, according to the research conducted by Consumer.
Consumer communications and campaigns adviser Abby Damen says this steep increase in the cost of flying is a hard pill for New Zealanders to swallow when domestic flight options are already so limited in Aotearoa.
“It’s not great news if the only travel option you have is to fly. It’s no surprise that New Zealand consumers are questioning how and why flight prices have increased so much over the past few years.”
Flights in the analysis reflected a range of scenarios and the original booking details were matched as closely as possible –in terms of lead-in times, flight times and days, whether baggage was included, etc.
Consumer’s comparisons
For example, Consumer compared a return flight to Hamilton for two adults with no luggage, booked just two days before a funeral.
In 2021, this flight cost $281.20. Three years later, the same flight booking would cost $1,118.00.
In another scenario researched by Consumer, a flight for a family of four from Sydney to Palmerston North, made in March 2020, two days before New Zealand’s first nationwide COVID-19 lockdown was announced, cost $1372 in total. Today, the same flight costs $3451 – two and half times what it cost four years ago.
When comparing flights with a longer lead time, Consumer NZ also reported an increase.
“A Christchurch–Dunedin return trip booked with five weeks lead-in time cost $123.60 in 2020. The same flight in 2023 cost $344 – nearly three times as much,” says Abby.
“A return trip between Wellington and Dunedin for two people and one checked bag cost $487.20 in 2020. Fast-forward to 2024 and the price of the flights had effectively doubled to $970.”
Air NZ responds
When asked by Consumer NZ what was driving the significant increase in flight prices, Air New Zealand pointed to “significant cost inflation”, explaining the airline’s overall cost base had risen by more than 30 per cent since 2020.
Air New Zealand also said it offers well-priced fares across its network, which are most readily available if booked in advance.
“It’s extremely disappointing to see Consumer NZ release these misleading comparisons,” Air New Zealand general manager domestic Scott Carr told Inside Tourism.
“The small sample of fares they have used reflects two very different operating environments.
“In 2020 and 2021 there was a global pandemic, the borders were closed, and at times there was restricted domestic travel.
“Our domestic fares have increased by 20 per cent from 2020 to 2024. Meanwhile, the airline has faced rising costs from suppliers of more than 40 per cent.
“In the past year, according to Statistics NZ, domestic airfares have decreased by 4 per cent,” he says.
Air New Zealand launched their biggest domestic sale of the year earlier this week.
How the research was collected
As part of the study, Consumer NZ compared 11 Air New Zealand bookings made by Consumer NZ staff, ensuring they had the same lead-in time.
The bookings were recreated on the same day as the original booking, with the date of travel as similar as possible; for example a booking made on Friday, May 1, 2021, was booked on Friday, May 3, in 2024.
When recreating the bookings, Consumer NZ staff took a screenshot of the pricing data from the first search results to avoid any potential adjustments on the site due to our search impacting Air New Zealand’s in-demand ticketing algorithm.
They only compared Air New Zealand flights and fares.
