Air New Zealand targets Japanese travelers with special charter flights

Monday 14th September, 04:16 AM JST

Air New Zealand is to operate a special summer charter service to help grow visitor arrivals from Japan into New Zealand. The airline will operate charters from Nagoya and Okinawa over the peak December-January tourist season.

The initiative is being supported by Tourism New Zealand, Auckland Airport, JTB, the Okinawa Tourist Service (OKS), Kinki Nippon Tourist (KNT), Meitetsu World Travel (MWT), Club Tourism (CTJ) and Nokyo Tourist Corporation (CTS).

The airline will be utilizing 223-seat Boeing 767 aircraft, bringing in an additional 1,100 Japanese tourists to New Zealand over the summer period.

Chris Myers, Air New Zealand’s general manager for Japan, said the charter service was the product of discussions last year between Air New Zealand and JTB about ways to stimulate travel between New Zealand and Japan.

“Japan remains a very important market for New Zealand, contributing 96,000 tourists last year – our fifth largest market. It is also one of our highest spending markets,” Myers said. “We are committed to growing tourism numbers from Japan and have been working hard to promote the ‘new’ New Zealand, with the aim of attracting tourists to experience-based activities such as hiking and kayaking.”

The charter services are scheduled to operate, on Dec 28, Jan 4, Jan 11, Jan 18 and Jan 25.

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13 Comments

geronimo2006 at 12:45 PM JST - 14th September

I would say they are trying a few new tricks to keep up with the competition. The Air NZ/ JAL overpriced direct flight monolopy they have milked is going to get eaten away. Doesn't say how long either- 1 week? 5 days? My guess is the young backpacker type who want to spend longer, and actually experience outdoor NZ, will fly Jetstar. The richer, mostly older crowd will take the short trip direct flight option. From Okinawa is an interesting one.
Wakarimasen at 04:57 PM JST - 14th September

NZ nneds to do more to get the punters in. J punters a good option but pay anything. Sooo expensive to fly to NX from here.
gogogo at 07:32 PM JST - 14th September

How much? NZ is a great place to visit.
anjinsanjpnz at 01:12 AM JST - 15th September

not the place to visit be careful checkout newzeeland.wordpress.com asians are easy targets in these nz ,just read about what happens .very sad indeed
bobbafett at 01:48 AM JST - 15th September

geronimo2006,

Thanks for the heads up on Jetstar. Planned my holiday to NZ this evening.
zaichik at 06:39 AM JST - 15th September

What's with the negativity about NZ, anjinsanjpnz? Looking at your posting history, you appear only to be here looking for opportunities to knock NZ. What's wrong? Did a kiwi peck you once?
wawawasuremono at 11:59 AM JST - 15th September

The initiative is being supported by Tourism New Zealand, Auckland Airport

Looks like Christchurch won't have any direct charters afterall. That's ironic, because Auckland is a broke-arse Sydney that is the last place a tourist would find the unique New Zealand experience they are looking for.
abromofo at 06:24 PM JST - 15th September

Well I'm a New Zealander, and while I like my country of birth, I've always had the impression that as a tourist destination, it wasn't always up to people's expectations. 1100 extra tourists in a year doesn't sound like a lot. I think NZ's niche tourism products have been equaled or bettered by many other countries, and there are now many, many other countries offering different appeal.
NeoJamal at 07:21 PM JST - 15th September

I think NZ's niche tourism products have been equaled or bettered by many other countries, and there are now many, many other countries offering different appeal.

Well, what do you expect from tourists who spend most of their time on the Shaky isles in Auckland to tell their friends and families? The tap water is arguably worse than Tokyo.
telica at 11:25 AM JST - 16th September

I saw the article about jetstar's new low fares from Japan to Auckland via Gold Coast, I rang AirNZ to see if they would price match because I would rather fly AirNZ but they said "No". Guess that means I'll just fly JetStar to save money even though I hate JetStar's budget service.
ca1ic0cat at 09:51 PM JST - 17th September

Are they going to have the stewardesses in body paint like in the safety video? That would increase ridership quite a bit, I think.
furuigakko at 09:16 PM JST - 19th September

Are they going to have the stewardesses in body paint like in the safety video? That would increase ridership quite a bit, I think.

The chicks in that commercial are nice, but the dudes are total and complete flamers.
ca1ic0cat at 03:16 AM JST - 22nd September

Yeah, but I'm not looking at the guys so no problem.