Cancelled flights give Otago students the blues

by Julia Hollingsworth | 1:43 am 06/09/2010

University of Otago students are among those caught out by Pacific Blue’s surprise withdrawal from the New Zealand domestic market.

The first service to go is the direct Dunedin to Auckland service, a change that will take effect from September 17. Pacific Blue has said publicly that people affected by the cease in operations would be rebooked on Air New Zealand flights where possible. However, students have told Critic that in their dealings with the airline, customer service representatives had told them rebooking the Dunedin to Auckland route had been a “nightmare” as Air New Zealand had not provided enough seats.

   As a result many students were being refunded for their tickets and forced to rebook on other airlines, whose prices have gone up considerably in the time since the initial booking.

   Pacific Blue spokesman Phil Boeyen would not give Critic specific details of how many passengers have had plans disrupted, although he said that several hundred people would be affected by the change. Pacific Blue did not know how many students have had their plans upset.

    Critic looked at flights for those wanting to travel to Auckland during the rest of this semester, and the cheapest option was to fly to Christchurch on Air New Zealand and then on to Auckland on budget carrier Jetstar after a two- to three-hour stopover.

   When Pacific Blue began flying into Dunedin in 2007, Boeyen told Critic that the airline would be looking into creating special ‘Scarfie deals’ for Otago students in the future. Those deals never eventuated and Air New Zealand instead started offering a standby deal where students can travel for $98 return anywhere in the country. Boeyen refused to comment on whether Air New Zealand’s ‘Scarfie’ standby fares had impacted their bottom line.

   Pacific Blue has clearly been struggling in the domestic market. Anecdotal evidence has been that the Dunedin to Auckland route is often poorly patronised, with many empty seats. Although the Pacific Blue service was popular at times, the fares had to be reduced to a point where there was little return made on sales. “It's not just a question of load factors but also of what fares people are prepared to pay so that overall there is an economic return,” Boeyen says.

   Pacific Blue flights, however, like those on Air New Zealand, have been in hot demand around the end of exam-time. Critic understands that students who had booked post-exam flights home are among those most affected. Boeyen would not be drawn on this, saying only that their service was indeed “popular at certain times of the year.”

   Pacific Blue had tinkered with its Dunedin flights as it sought to maximise profits. Originally the airline flew the Dunedin to Christchurch route where passengers could then transfer to Auckland or Wellington or internationally. This route was later scrapped and a direct service to Auckland offered.

   “It's a very competitive market domestically and we have made a business decision to put our aircraft where we can make money rather than continuing loss-making services,” Boeyen says.

   While in the short-term passengers have had plans disrupted, the long-term impact could see more expensive flights in and out of Dunedin as Air New Zealand regains its monopoly.

   Boeyen did not miss the opportunity to tell Critic that there is a silver lining, in the form of increased direct flights to Brisbane. “We look forward to welcoming Otago students on these flights to warm climes.”

   Pacific Blue is also ending their Queenstown to Auckland service, and various services between Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland.

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