Tauranga man Scott Koster says it’s “tone deaf” for Air New Zealand to be showing off its new uniforms while many travellers are facing particularly high airfares.

He has been trying to fly his daughter back to university in Wellington and said it was currently cheaper for her to take a bus to Auckland, an Uber to the airport, and then fly Jetstar to Wellington than it was to fly on Air New Zealand from Tauranga to Wellington.

“I work for a non-profit and like a lot of Kiwis right now there’s not a lot of discretionary money. But you still want to see your kid, so we flew her home but the flights back … they have a monopoly.

“They’ve kept the prices for the Sunday going back extremely high for weeks, they’ve never put it [the fare] on sale.”

He said the price was anything from $430 to $735 one-way. “I’m flying each to $640 to Los Angeles in November, so it’s cheaper to go to the States than it is to go to Wellington.”

He said it seemed insensitive for the airline to be talking about its new uniforms at a time when the cost of living was a major concern for many New Zealanders.

The airline recently unveiled its new uniforms, designed by Emilia Wickstead.

“They’ve been doing it for a while - I just get kind of disgusted with it … I understand dynamic pricing and the free market but just because the company can doesn’t mean it should.”

He said he had filed a complaint with the Commerce Commission.

Frequent complaints at holiday time

Consumer NZ investigative writer Vanessa Pratley said her organisation frequently received complaints about the cost of flying domestically, especially around holidays.

“High prices to fly over Easter are reflective of the levels of demand on airlines, and showcase the impact of dynamic pricing algorithms. It’s difficult for consumers to know what they’re paying for, and whether that price is fair.

“In our domestic market, one carrier, Air New Zealand, has a monopoly on several routes, giving consumers little choice but to cough up and pay. This is the case for the Wellington to Tauranga route, where Air New Zealand is the only option.

“We think a market study examining all the factors that impact competition, especially on regional routes, is needed to get to the bottom of why consumers are paying so much.”

Seats in demand

Air New Zealand said the date that Koster wanted to book travel for was the end of a very busy school holiday, Easter weekend, and Anzac day period. “Flights are very full next weekend and we already have a sold-out flight between Tauranga and Wellington next Sunday.”

A spokesperson confirmed the airline used a supply and demand pricing system.

“At peak travel times - like school holidays, or before an event - demand is high. If fares were fixed at the average price, seats would sell out fast, leaving none for those who have to travel at short notice.

“While we do our best to schedule additional flights, there is a limit to how much we can add, so pricing helps manage demand and encourage people to choose an alternative flight for which there is lower demand, at a lower price.

“Conversely, we also have off-peak periods - like midweek afternoons - where there’s not as much demand, and we adjust prices to encourage bookings on those.”

Air New Zealand’s advice for people who wanted to find cheaper fares was to book early and be flexible.

- RNZ