“Australia already publishes regular information on fares, capacity and airline competition, providing a model New Zealand can adapt.”
NZ Airports said it wanted regular analysis, with special attention to routes a single airline served.
“Comparable reporting would account for factors such as booking timing, route mix and fare conditions,” the association said.
“New Zealand is a small market with long, thin routes, and that shapes what any airline can sustain commercially,” NZ Airports chief executive Graeme Sharman said.
“The question is whether the public can see enough to know how well the system is working.”
NZ Airports also called for a “predictable, evidence-based airport regulation framework”.
There are ongoing disputes between airlines and major airports over how much airports should be regulated, and how much airlines should contribute to major airport capital projects.
NZ Airports also said all political parties should aim to keep visitor settings competitive and support commercially sustainable international air services.
And it said politicians must pay attention to regional routes.
“For many regional communities, aviation is essential infrastructure rather than a discretionary service. Better evidence will help government identify where connectivity is under pressure and consider proportionate action before important services are lost.”
Fake agents
Meanwhile, the travel agents’ association is warning of a rise in AI slop and scams targeting travellers.
“It’s only going to get worse, especially around the deep AI,” TAANZ chief executive Julie White told the Herald.
“What you can’t fake is when you’re sitting or standing in front of someone.”
She said scams were especially targeting older people who were very active on Facebook.
TAANZ said this year’s election presented a chance to broaden the national conversation about accredited travel advisers.
“Just as government invests in transport and digital connectivity, the accredited advisor network is infrastructure that keeps travel spending safe, local, and accountable and it deserves to be treated as such in policy, not just referenced in passing.”
It wanted the Government to promote “TAANZ-Accreditation” to indicate where a travel adviser was legitimate and accountable.
TAANZ also wanted an aviation consumer charter, modelled on an Australian customer rights charter.
It said that would mean passengers were clearly told about their rights when a flight was delayed, cancelled, or disrupted.
“If an airline has cancelled your flight or something has gone wrong, the airline should be explaining your rights clearly,” White said.
“It shouldn’t be left to the travel advisor to try and work it out for the customer.”
Consumer NZ is calling for regulations to ensure passengers were told about their rights in case of delays or cancellations.
In June it launched a flight complaints portal for passengers.
It said more than 75% of travellers relied on airlines for information about their rights.
Consumer NZ at the time said its own research had shown nine out of 10 people were not fully aware of their flight rights.
Consumer NZ presented a petition to Parliament earlier this year, saying airlines should be made to tell passengers their rights when flights were disrupted.
The Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand (Barnz) told the Petitions Committee a spike of complaints inspiring the petition mostly happened when airline services restarted after the Covid pandemic.
Barnz said carriers had invested millions of dollars to overhaul digital customer interfaces and related tools.
The Aviation Industry Association (AIANZ) has pointed to information already available to passengers about their rights, such as that on the Air NZ website.
The AIANZ said it would be willing to engage with work on a voluntary charter on passengers’ rights.
But it said its members would struggle to support such a charter if it added “more cost to an already fragile cost base”.
John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation. He also has experience covering consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.
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