Consumer NZ wants inquiry into Air New Zealand’s pricing model

The consumer watchdog is calling for an inquiry into how Air New Zealand prices its flights. A recent Consumer NZ investigation into the prices of Trans-Tasman flights across an 18-week period found, on average, Air New Zealand increased its fares by 43% in the school holidays (compared to school term time) while Qantas increased its fares by only 24% across the same time period. Consumer NZ CEO Jon Duffy told Stuff Travel its concern is not that either airline is increasing prices during popular times and on popular routes - rather that Air New Zealand might be taking advantage of demand much more than Qantas is. “Aotearoa has one of the least competitive aviation sectors in the world (with Air New Zealand owning a virtual monopoly on some routes and therefore able to control the supply) and we think consumers deserve more transparency regarding how Air New Zealand is setting its prices. We don't actually know if our national carrier is taking advantage of this demand for sure. That's why we are calling for a market study, which will look at competition dynamics - such as the relationship between the number of planes Air NZ puts in the sky, and the prices that they're charging - to determine whether competition in the aviation sector is working as well for New Zealanders as it could be.”<br/>