Qantas B737-800

Qantas Steps up Trans-Tasman Flying This Summer

Qantas is boosting seat capacity by approximately 20% on the Australia—New Zealand country pair this upcoming southern 2025/26 summer. The airline says it will offer around 60,000 more seats between December 2025 and January 2026 than in the previous summer.

“We’re so pleased to offer even more Tasman flying for customers, which will mean Qantas will have the most frequency between Australia and New Zealand at one of the busiest travel periods of the year,” said Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace.

More flights will be added on the following routes:

  • Sydney (SYD) – Auckland (AKL): an additional six weekly flights on top of the current 35, or a 16% increase.
  • Sydney – Christchurch (CHC): a extra seven weekly flights on top of the existing 14, or a 50% increase.
  • Sydney – Wellington (WLG): another five weekly flights on top of the existing 14, or a 31 increase.
  • Melbourne (MEL) – Auckland: a extra seven weekly flights on top of the current 28, or a 23% increase.
  • Melbourne – Christchurch: another three weekly flights on top of the existing 11, or a 26% increase.
  • Melbourne – Queenstown (ZQN): an additional two flights per week on top of the existing four, or a 50% increase.
  • Brisbane (BNE) – Queenstown: a extra three weekly flights on top of the current four, or a 75% increase.

Wallace says the extra flights give customers more choice and convenience as well as supporting tourism and economic growth in both markets.

B737-800s exclusively operate these flights. In contrast, Air New Zealand does put widebody aircraft onto some of its trans-Tasman flights, and there are other airlines offering widebody trans-Tasman flights – China Airlines uses an A350 on its Brisbane – Auckland flights, Emirates runs an A380 between Sydney and Christchurch, and LATAM has an A330 flying its Sydney – Auckland services.

Qantas offers thrice weekly widebodies (B787s) on the Sydney—Auckland city pair. QF3/QF4 is an extension of its Auckland - New York (JFK) service. The airline also currently flies an A330 most days on the Brisbane - Auckland city pair. That will swap out for a B787 over this summer period.

Schedules on other Qantas trans-Tasman routes remain unchanged.

Photos: Qantas

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