Friday, 05 February 2010
PACK windy weather gear and turn up at Whakatane airport an hour before a flight to Wellington in the next three weeks and you may score a cheap standby ticket.
This week Air New Zealand launched a trial promotion where people can arrive at the airport and purchase $59 one-way tickets to and from Wellington on flights with unsold seats.
Standard pre-booked tickets start at $99.
Carrie Hurihanganui, general manager of Eagle Air, the Air New Zealand subsidiary which operates the flights, said the idea was to gauge interest in last-minute leisure travel.
“We trialled standby fares for students in Otago and Waikato late last year, which was very popular.
“For the first time we are trialling it to all residents on provincial routes like Whakatane to Wellington to see what demand we can stimulate to fill remaining unsold seats.”
She said people must arrive at Whakatane airport 60 minutes before the flight where staff will let them know if they may be able to travel.
Return stand-by tickets must be purchased at the same time.
Air New Zealand operates up to five flights a day between Whakatane and Wellington, with cheaper standard tickets and more expensive “flexi pass” tickets with more baggage allowances.
According to its website, however, all standard tickets on flights between now and February 22 have been booked, while more expensive ones were still available.
So last-minute travellers will have to rely on the pricey tickets remaining unsold or last-minute cancellations to take their spur-of-the-moment holidays.