760,000 travellers set to fly with Air New Zealand over July school holidays

Some 760,000 people are set to fly with Air New Zealand over the July school holidays, with 51,000 booked to travel on the busiest day of July 12. Nearly half a million customers are set to fly on the domestic network, and a further 274,000 are headed overseas, the airline said. Air New Zealand COO Alex Marren said the airline has made more seats available in response to strong demand for flights around Aotearoa over the school holidays. “To help get customers where they need to be, we’ve added 30,000 seats across 240 domestic flights. That means we have nearly half a million customers expected to travel with us from Friday 5 July until Sunday 21 July.” Queenstown is the most popular domestic destination for the airline these school holidays, with 31,000 customers set to travel there. Dunedin is also popular, with the All Blacks set to play England in the city on July 6. Air New Zealand has put on nine extra return flights, equal to 2250 additional seats, to cater for demand. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the most popular international destinations for customers, while Fiji and Singapore are also in high demand. Meanwhile, Jetstar expects to fly more than 120,000 people across its domestic and international networks over the July school holidays. Airports around the country are also gearing up for a busy two weeks. Some 55,000 people are set to fly into or out of Auckland Airport on the busiest days of the school holidays, with this weekend expected to be especially hectic for both international and domestic departures.<br/>