A Look at Air New Zealand’s Christchurch Ops

By Andrew Curran

Christchurch is the primary airport on New Zealand’s South Island and the country’s second busiest (after Auckland). Twelve airlines operate to the airport, including cargo operators, domestic airlines, and international carriers.

The airport is yet to release traffic figures for the 2025 financial year, but 6.25 million passengers travelled in and out of Christchurch Airport in the 12 months to June 30, 2024. Presently, Christchurch has direct connections to 14 domestic airports and 11 international airports.

Passenger airlines servicing the airport this summer include Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Southern Airlines, Fiji Airways, United Airlines, Emirates, Jetstar, Qantas, Air Chathams, Origin Air, and Air New Zealand. The latter airline is the dominant carrier at Christchurch.

Christchurch is Air New Zealand’s second busiest port. According to Aero South Pacific’s Air New Zealand Market Report – Summer 2025/26, the airport will handle 518 Air New Zealand departures across the seven days from October, 29, 2025. Those departures will provide 52,140 seats.

The busiest Air New Zealand route out of Christchurch is to Auckland. In the same seven days, 109 Air New Zealand aircraft will push back from Christchurch bound for Auckland. Those flights will provide 19,069 seats, or 36.6% of all the airline’s seats offered out of Christchurch that week.

The second busiest route is the Christchurch – Wellington run. Air New Zealand is scheduling 104 departures to Wellington out of Christchurch over the seven days, providing 8,207 seats. It’s only marginally fewer departures than to Auckland, but less than half the seats. That’s because Air New Zealand almost exclusively deploys A320-200s and A321-200NXs on the Christchurch – Auckland route but the smaller ATR72-600s and Q300s dominate on the Christchurch – Wellington city pair.

The following table shows Air Zealand’s direct domestic destinations from Christchurch, the number of flights running in the seven days from October 29, and the number of seats provided. 

Destination	Weekly Departures	Weekly Seats
Auckland	109	19,069
Dunedin	39	2,652
Hamilton	23	2,079
Hokitika	12	600
Invercargill	36	2,533
Napier	22	1,496
Nelson	36	2,533
New Plymouth	13	650
Palmerston North	29	1,972
Queenstown	28	2,831
Rotorua	17	1,156
Tauranga	23	1,564
Wellington	104	8,207
	491	47,342

 

Air New Zealand’s international network from Christchurch covers six Australian cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Cairns (seasonal). The airline operates these flights with a mix of A320-200N and A321-200NX aircraft, they being Air New Zealand’s aircraft of choice for short haul international flights.

The following table shows Air Zealand’s direct international destinations from Christchurch, the number of flights running in the seven days from October 29, and the number of seats provided. Cairns is not included as those seasonal flights ended the week prior.

Destination	Weekly Departures	Weekly Seats
Adelaide	2	330
Brisbane	7	1,155
Gold Coast	2	330
Melbourne	9	1,828
Sydney	7	1,155
	27	4,798

 

Air New Zealand only operates economy-class configured DHC-8-Q300, ATR72-600, A320-200, and A321-200NX aircraft from Christchurch.

The Airbus neo jets are used on the Australian flights and also operate some services on the Christchurch – Auckland city pair. The A320-200s are a staple on Air New Zealand’s domestic trunk routes. They cover most of the frequencies on the Christchurch – Auckland route, one of the daily services to Hamilton, and handful of frequencies to Wellington, Queenstown. The A320-200 also flies once per week to Invercargill.

The ATRs and Q300s cover Air New Zealand’s remaining flights from Christchurch. Services to Invercargill, Nelson, and Wellington use both types, with the airline using the smaller Q300s during off-peak periods of the day. ATRs covers all flights from Christchurch to Tauranga, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Napier, and Dunedin. The ATRs also share duties with the A320-200 to Invercargill and Queenstown.

That leaves the 50-passenger Q300s to cover the remainder of Air New Zealand’s departures from Christchurch, including all flights to Hokitika and New Plymouth.

You can download a free extract of the Air New Zealand Market Report – Summer 2025/26

You can also purchase the full report here.

Photo: AI-Generated.