Competition on the runway... Additional transtasman flights announced for Queenstown.

In what appears to be a post-breakup battle with Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia is aggressively adding new transtasman services and Queenstown looks set to benefit. With Virgin entering the Queenstown - Melbourne route, this means thousands of extra seats available to Australian holidaymakers to Central Otago and more choices for locals heading across the ditch to Australia.

Virgin Australia announced last week the introduction of up to four direct services per week between Melbourne and Queenstown. In addition to increasing competition on the route, the airline will be the first to offer a business service between the two centres. “Our entry into the Melbourne-Queenstown market will bring some much-needed competition to the premium leisure sector, with Virgin Australia the only airline to offer Business Class on this route.” said Virgin Australia group executive Rob Sharp.

The increase comes amongst a flurry of additional capacity being added to Queenstown Airport in recent weeks. Only two weeks ago, Air New Zealand announced the introduction of four flights per week between Queenstown and Brisbane, increasing the airline’s international capacity from Queenstown airport by 20%.

The introduction of additional services into the Queenstown market looks set to deliver greater choice and sharper fares and can only be a good thing for businesses and travelers alike.