Jetstar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Airport) has outlined its initial domestic New Zealand operational plans set to launch during the last quarter of this year. Local operator Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland International) opened the market up to competition when it terminated a number of local routes in April this year citing viability issues. This resulted in a number of contenders - Jetstar, Originair (Nelson, NZ) and Kiwi Regional Airlines (Hamilton, NZ) - announcing their own separate plans to fill the void in the market.

As such, effective December 1, Jetstar will offer multiple-daily flights from Auckland International to Napier/Hastings and Nelson, NZ. Thereafter, effective February 1, 2016, flights from Auckland to New Plymouth and Palmerston North will roll out alongside flights between Nelson and Wellington.

Jetstar will base a fleet of five 50-seat DHC-8-300 aircraft in Auckland with Qantas-owned Eastern Australia Airlines (EAQ, Tamworth) to operate them on its behalf.

“We believe the routes we’ve announced offer the strongest opportunities to grow the market and make a real difference to local economies and locals’ wallets, encouraging more travel and saving people money when they fly.” David Hall, Jetstar Australia and New Zealand CEO, said. “We’ll keep talking with stakeholders in Hamilton, NZ, Rotorua, Invercargill and Tauranga because they’ve all expressed a desire for airline competition and they support Jetstar’s model of stimulating market growth through lower fares.”

Though it does not possess a New Zealand AOC, Jetstar is allowed to operate within the country as under the terms of an open skies agreement signed in 2000, civil aviation regulators of Australia and New Zealand recognise each other's AOCs.