From 7 November 2013 every seat on the 9.30pm flights between Auckland and Christchurch in both directions (Thursday – Monday) will be just NZ$39 (or NZ$49 for a ‘Seat + Bag’).  The service will be operated by a combination of A320 and B737 aircraft.

Air New Zealand Group General Manager New Zealand and Pacific Islands Cam Wallace says the airline is pleased to extend the service to Christchurch and hopes it will stimulate travel demand and tourism activity for both cities.

“Night Rider™ has proven extremely popular with customers since it was introduced between Auckland and Wellington last year and we expect seats will sell out just as fast on the new Christchurch service,” says Mr Wallace.

“The Christchurch Night Rider™ will launch in time for the peak summer holiday season and will allow Aucklanders and Cantabrians to take advantage of cheap airfares to key upcoming events such as Canterbury Cup and Show Week and the Wellington Phoenix A-League match in Christchurch and the Big Day Out in Auckland.”

Mr Wallace says with such ludicrously low fares there are a few restrictions passengers need to know about.

“In line with the existing Night Rider™ service, these flights will skip our usual in-flight refreshments and passengers will not be eligible to use our Koru Lounges.  Night Rider™ is not available to unaccompanied minors and can’t be booked as part of a through fare domestically or internationally.  Passengers will still be offered a lolly at the end of the flight though!”

Night Rider™ fares between Auckland and Christchurch are on sale now at www.airnewzealand.co.nz for travel between 7 November 2013 and 31 January 2014.

Ends

Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs ph +64 21 747 320

About Star Alliance:

Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance.  The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries.

For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com