• 

  Qantas

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  QF/QFA

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Brisbane Airport, Melbourne Airport, Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport

  Year Founded:

  1920

  Alliance:

  oneworld

  CEO:

  Alan Joyce

  Country:

  Australia

It will be 330 days since the last scheduled international passenger service touched down, but international passenger flights are returning to Queenstown (ZQN) on New Zealand's South Island next week. On Monday, May 23, Qantas will be the first of the former international airlines flying into Queenstown to make a return.

Qantas resumes daily Queenstown flights on Monday

On Monday, QF121 will push back from Sydney (SYD) at 09:30 for the quick three-hour hop across the Tasman Sea, landing at ZQN at 14:30. After a quick turnaround, QF122 will depart Queenstown Airport at 15:20 to return to Sydney, arriving there at 16:40. The services will fly daily and be operated by a Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Pre-pandemic Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia, and Air New Zealand flew between ZQN and the key east coast Australian cities. Flights into Queenstown sold well, with the pretty lakeside town the gateway to New Zealand's ski fields. Aside from a brief window last year when the trans-Tasman travel corridor was running, international airline activity in Queenstown has been almost non-existent since the pandemic outbreak.

"Monday, May 23 marks an important step in not only the airport's recovery but the region's recovery after an incredibly challenging two years," says Queenstown Airport CEO Glen Sowry. "During peak days in the middle of July, we are expecting up to 57 flights (arrivals and departures), and about one-third of those will be trans-Tasman. Prior to COVID, 30% of all passenger arrivals and departures at Queenstown Airport were from trans-Tasman flights."

Jetstar and Air New Zealand follow Qantas back to ZQN next month

In June, as the start of the 2022 ski season kicks off, Jetstar will resume its ZQN flights early in the month, and Air New Zealand will return on June 24. Virgin Australia, busy sending mixed messages about its return to international flying, isn't eyeing Queenstown services until November.

Online schedules show Jetstar flying into Queenstown three times a week from Sydney from June 2. Air New Zealand's online timetable reveals flights from Melbourne (MEL) to ZQN resuming on June 24, with flights from Sydney showing as restarting on July 11.

Glen Sowry says that international capacity into Queenstown will be running at about 75% of pre-pandemic levels by mid-winter. In July 2019, 86,930 international passengers passed through ZQN, and the airport handled 662 international aircraft movements. Including domestic passenger numbers, total passengers through the airport that month numbered 226,129.

Fast international recovery anticipated for Queenstown Airport

Skip forward to April this year, and there were zero international passenger movements in Queenstown and zero international aircraft movements. Domestic passengers in April numbered 114,459, with domestic aircraft movements totaling 958. Queenstown Airport's CEO says domestic capacity into the airport this winter will run close to 2021 winter levels.

One of Queenstown's biggest claims to fame - and a reason to book a flight into ZQN at least once - is the spectacular approach regularly ranked as among the world's best. The approach from the north sees planes skirting low over mountain ridges and ski fields before descending into a narrow valley where the aircraft flies between mountains before shooting out over Lake Wakatipu and making the final approach to the airport. Pilots say as landings go, the run into Queenstown is up there with the best.