{"id":640445,"date":"2026-10-25T00:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T00:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/640445\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T00:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T00:42:14","slug":"why-youll-be-paying-more-for-flights-this-christmas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/640445\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you’ll be paying more for flights this Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone planning to travel this summer can expect to have to pay more for airfares.<\/p>\n

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n

Economist Benje Patterson said fares would be higher over the Christmas period than they had been a year ago.<\/p>\n

Stats NZ’s latest data showed people booking domestic flights in September were paying 5.1% more than the same time a year earlier.<\/p>\n

“That increase is relatively modest compared to international airfares, which were up a much sharper 12.3% over the same period,” Patterson said.<\/p>\n

“The reality is that the fuel crisis has put upward pressure on airfares. We are also seeing some increases in accommodation prices, although nowhere near to the same extent.<\/p>\n

“All this means that holidays are going to be relatively expensive for many New Zealanders this summer. I would anticipate that domestic travellers will continue their recent trend of being relatively conservative with their spending. Higher living costs remain a challenge, and the labour market is still not showing material signs of improvement.”<\/p>\n

\"International<\/p>\n

International airfares were the biggest contributor, climbing 7.2% and accounting for one fifth of the quarterly increase. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Air New Zealand said it had had to increase its fares in response to significantly higher jet fuel costs.<\/p>\n

“Higher average fares have helped offset some of these additional costs, but haven’t covered the full impact of fuel price increases.<\/p>\n

“While we can’t put a single percentage on how domestic fares this summer will compare with last, prices vary depending on the route, demand, availability and when customers book. <\/p>\n

“We know affordability matters to New Zealanders, and we’re continuing to offer a range of fares across our domestic network. The best prices are generally available to those who book early.”<\/p>\n

In an update on Wednesday, Air NZ said it carried 1% fewer passengers in the first quarter of the financial year than the same period a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Domestic passenger numbers were down 2.7%. Short-haul passenger numbers were up 3.7% and long-haul down 2.3%.<\/p>\n

It noted that Singapore jet fuel had increased in price from an average US$85 a barrel in the first quarter of the last financial year to an average of US$140.\\\\<\/p>\n

\"Airport<\/p>\n

Airport waiting room. (Source: istock.com)<\/p>\n

Justin Lester, of Dot Loves Data, said the amount being spent on airlines was up 15.92% from 2025 and 16.54% since 2024.<\/p>\n

“Transaction count is down 5.28% from last year and up only 0.36% from 2024. As these numbers suggest, average spend has increased by a lot, 22.32% from 2025, 18.14% from 2024.”<\/p>\n

Patterson said the “silver lining” for the tourism sector was that international visitor numbers were growing strongly.<\/p>\n

“Indications from both Auckland and Christchurch airports, our two largest international gateways, suggest this growth will continue over the summer season.<\/p>\n

“For tourism operators that appeal to both domestic and international visitors, this growth in overseas arrivals should help offset any softness in the domestic market over the busy summer period.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anyone planning to travel this summer can expect to have to pay more for airfares. By Susan Edmunds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15656,138,18399,219,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-640445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-air-travel","tag-business","tag-christmas","tag-economy","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}