Air New Zealand to begin Sydney-Rarotonga flight in 2010

[Jarden S]

Posted at 06:17 on 17 December, 2009 UTC

Air New Zealand is to begin direct flights between Sydney, Australia and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands next year.

The Cook Islands Tourism Minister Robert Wigmore says Cabinet has approved a financial guarantee for Air New Zealand to operate flights during a trial period of July to October next year.

A statement by the Ministry of Tourism says the plans have been on the Cook Islands Tourism agenda for quite some time and the ministry hopes this will generate visitor growth from the Australian market.

It says the authorities hope the flight becomes commercially viable and will open up the possibility of agricultural goods including fresh fish to be freighted to Australia every week.

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Rumour is they will be using the 767 for the flight as the A320 can't do it non stop with a viable payload.

[Andrew M]

That is VERY good news!

[Jim Liu]

http://airlineroute.net/2009/12/21/nz-sydrar-s10

Schedule is loaded in the system. Service operates with Boeing 767 once a week from July to September 2010

[Jarden S]

here is their news release
Air New Zealand Announces Sydney - Rarotonga Services

22 December 2009

Air New Zealand will from July operate direct services between Sydney and the Cook Islands, making it the only airline to operate direct services between the two nations.

Flights will operate once a week for a four month trial period during the peak holiday season of July to October.

The seventeen return services on a Sunday from Sydney and Friday from Rarotonga will be operated by a 223 seat Boeing 767-300 with a configuration of 199 economy and 24 business class seats.

Flight time for the 5,000km journey is six hours from Sydney and seven hours 15 minutes from Rarotonga.

"We already carry a large number of passengers between Australia and the Cook Islands via Auckland," says Air New Zealand General Manager Tasman Pacific Airline Glen Sowry.

"The Cook Islands, including Aitutaki, is a very attractive destination to Australian travellers looking for a unique South Pacific experience."

"The introduction of direct services will provide a valuable boost to the Cook Islands community and with the support of the Cooks Islands Government and Cook Islands Tourism we will be working hard to make this trial a success."

Lead-in one-way economy fares from Sydney start at AU$487 and from Rarotonga from NZ$588.


The schedule is as follows:
Sunday 04 July - Sunday 26 September: Sydney - Rarotonga: - 1900/0500
Friday 09 July - Friday 01 October: Rarotonga - Sydney: - 1735/2050 +1 day

Due NSW daylight savings commencing 3 October, the schedule will alter as follows:

Sunday 03 October - Sunday 24 October: Sydney - Rarotonga: - 2000/0500
Friday 08 October - Friday 29 October: Rarotonga - Sydney: - 1635/2050 +1 day