Air New Zealand is launching a new daily ‘Night Rider’ service with every seat on the aircraft available at a fare of NZD$29, for the last flight of the day between Auckland and Wellington.
The new service will add the equivalent of around 100,000 ludicrously low cost seats per year between the two cities. Flights will depart from both Auckland and Wellington at 10pm every night Sunday-Friday. On Saturdays, Night Rider will depart Auckland for Wellington at 9pm, with the return leg departing Wellington at 10.30pm. $29 ‘Seat’ fares are available on every seat on the 133 seat Boeing 737 aircraft – or ‘Seat+Bag’ for $39 one way.
Night Rider seats are on sale now, with the first services to depart on Monday 5 November.
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe announced the new services at an event in Wellington today.
Fyfe says the additional flights will not only help to meet growing demand on the Auckland to Wellington route but will further stimulate tourism in the two cities.
“We expect the Night Rider services to be a massive hit with our customers,” he says. “There has never been a service like this in the market before with fares for an entire plane priced at $29.
“The domestic market is critical to the success of our business and the Night Rider flights are part of a wider strategy to stimulate more people to fly.
“The strategy includes the introduction of our popular standby fares on all domestic services, significant reductions to lead-in fares on both main city and regional routes and a substantial investment in new aircraft for the domestic fleet,” he says.
Fyfe says that while Night Rider passengers can still expect to enjoy Air New Zealand’s award-winning customer service, in order to offer ludicrously low $29 fares there are a few restrictions to note.
“The late night flights will skip our usual in-flight drink and snack service and passengers travelling on these fares are not eligible for Koru Lounge entry prior to departure,” Fyfe says. “Night Rider services cannot be booked as part of a through fare domestically or internationally and are not available to unaccompanied minors. Services may not operate on key public holidays.”