Will Jetstar’s plans land gains for Bay businesses? David Porter investigates.
Local news media has widely covered the, largely positive, comments from various business and tourist spokespeople responding to recent announcements that Jetstar is initiating trans-Tasman services to Australia.
Jetstar, a Qantas subsidiary, announced the new services would take off from Hamilton and service the Gold Coast and Sydney from June 2025 and be operated using the airline’s fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft. According to a media statement, this would be the first time Jetstar has flown to and from Hamilton.
While the announcement was greeted with a, generally, supportive response locally, several sources suggested that the new service might have little practical impact on tourism and exporters and importers in the wider Bay of Plenty region.
The trans-Tasman commercial flights will be the first of their type out of Hamilton in 13 years, according to one news report – the last Virgin Australia flight flew from Hamilton to Brisbane on October 27, 2012, ending 18 years of trans-Tasman flights between the two cities.
BOP set to benefit?
Wider advantages possibly low
Nigel Tutt, chief executive of economic development organisation Priority One, said it was hard to see the Jetstar move as having much effect at all on Tauranga’s economy.
“It’s hard to see it having an effect on the volume of tourists that would be needed to change to affect Tauranga’s economy,” he told the Bay of Plenty Business News (BOPBN).
“It’s applaudable, but I don’t think it’s economically significant for us. It’s probably not going to be a large business travel market so we’ll probably struggle to see any effect from it.”
According to a Jetstar statement, the new routes will provide Kiwis with more direct access to the Gold Coast and Sydney, two of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations, and make it easier for travellers to connect to Jetstar’s extensive, low-cost network across Australia, Asia and the Pacific.
In a comment to BOPBN, Andrew Wilson (chief executive of RotoruaNZ) said his team was delighted as the new trans-Tasman routes would provide significant benefits for Rotorua and the wider region.
“Australia has long been our most important international visitor market and this expanded air connectivity makes it even easier for our Australian neighbours to experience the unique attractions Rotorua has to offer.
“This new route will not only enhance the visitor journey to Rotorua, but also stimulate our regional economy by attracting more international visitors. Hamilton’s new routes will increase accessibility and create seamless travel options for tourists keen to explore Rotorua’s world-renowned geothermal wonders, rich Māori culture and adventure
experiences [such as] mountain biking and wellness tourism.”
More direct access
Bryce Heard, CEO of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce, said the new service certainly wouldn’t have a negative impact, however he told BOPBN:
“I don’t think it’s a big deal to be honest. It’s only once a week, it’s not as if it’s a twice daily service. We’ll, basically, not see much difference.”
Matt Cowley, CEO of the Tauranga Business Chamber, noted that (generally speaking) middle of the day flights were for tourists and time sensitive given the infrequency of the flights.
“If you parked your car in Hamilton, you’d have to get the return flight. To be frank, it is about the outflow of Kiwi tourists, but our tourism gateway is Auckland. International tourists go to the Bay of Islands and then start moving their way down the country,” he said. “Auckland’s always going to be the main airport. This has to be more about giving easy access to Australia rather than Australians coming here.”
Cowley said it could represent an option for exporters and importers.
Tourism Bay of Plenty head of strategy and insights, Richard Faire, said in a news report that international visitors were “crucial to our visitor economy” and more connectivity was welcomed.
“Australia is a vital source of visitors to our region, who collectively spend more money while they’re here than visitors from any other country. It’s been estimated that Australian visitors spent more than $21.5 million on their bank cards while they were in the coastal Bay of Plenty last year.”
Waikato Regional Airport Ltd (WRAL) chief executive, Mark Morgan, said in a news report that the announcement came after more than a year of “solid grind” by his team negotiating with the airline and border agencies.
In a comment to the BOPBN, Morgan said WRAL had undertaken some independent analysis, which indicated the new Jetstar flights would boost the regional Waikato economy by around $45 million per year.
“We’re also anticipating around 365 new regional jobs, including around 60 at Hamilton Airport. That’s based on an extra 65,000 visitors flying directly from the Gold Coast or Sydney into Hamilton.”
Morgan noted that many of these visitors were liable to travel further and would see Hamilton as their first stop on a longer journey around New Zealand.
“That’s great news of course, especially for the Bay of Plenty which is just a short drive away. So, I think there will undoubtedly be spill-over benefits for our friends in the Bay, which we’re obviously delighted about.”
Morgan said that, in terms of business travel, the region now had a new triangular route where people could fly out of Hamilton to Sydney, on to the Gold Coast and then home without having to deal with the well-known challenges of travelling to Auckland.
“That improved connectivity, and improved efficiency, is already exciting people. It will open up opportunities they’ve not had before. For people based in the Bay of Plenty, it makes travelling to Australia significantly easier
and significantly cheaper as well.”
Morgan said the team was also excited about boosting the resilience of the national aviation network.
“If, for any reason, Auckland is unable to operate, there’s an international airport just over an hour away [via] the Waikato Expressway,” he said. “I think that’s good for everyone. Overall, these new routes align well with the government’s regional development, tourism and economic growth strategies.”
