Fiji Airways adds Wellington-Nadi direct flights

In a welcome boost to Wellington Airport's plans for expansion and more international flights, Fiji Airways has added the capital as its third New Zealand destination.

The Fiji government-controlled airline, which has Qantas as a large shareholder and Air New Zealand as a minor one, will permanently fly the Nadi-Wellington route from June 25, 2015.

Wellington Airport has repeatedly sought international routes routes beyond the Tasman but, until now, no airline has responded.

The new service will run twice weekly, departing Wellington on Thursdays and Sundays, and will use Boeing 737-800 airrcaft carrying eight passengers in business and 150 in economy.

Fiji Airways managing director and chief executive Stefan Pichler says New Zealand is an "incredibly important" market for Fiji Airways and its  five-year strategic plan is committed to increasing capacity between the two countries for both leisure and business traffic.

"The introduction of this new route reflects our commitment to the New Zealand market and in growing our global network,” Mr Pichler says.

“We also recently announced that Fiji Airways was doubling its capacity to Christchurch from next winter, with the weekly Saturday flight complemented by a permanent additional service on Tuesdays, from June 23, 2015."

Fiji Airways already operates up 13 weekly flights between Auckland and both Nadi and Suva in Fiji.

The new Wellington service opens up an additional 328 weekly seats between New Zealand and Fiji, as well as providing Wellingtonians with an opportunity to fly to Apia, Los Angeles and on to other North American cities, via Nadi.

Wellington Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson says the numbers of residents in the region travelling to Fiji and to the US have grown by more than 20% over the past two years, while US visitors using Wellington as their New Zealand point of entry has increased 35% over the same period.

“The new service to Fiji, which will add up to 34,000 seats to Wellington’s market, really demonstrates the demand and growth in international traffic to and from Wellington,” Mr Sanderson says.