Flight NZ1989: Air New Zealand adding new flights to get fans across the ditch

Cockpit overview during the blue hour

Air New Zealand is adding more than 2,000 seats to its network to cater to the ‘Swift surge’ in demand following the announcement of Taylor Swift’s Australian tour dates.

This will include new return flights from Wellington, Christchurch, and Auckland to Sydney and Melbourne, along with additional seats on existing flights. The airline has even planted a surprise for fans, naming some of the new flights ‘NZ1989’.

What airlines are charging to get to Sydney in February.

News of the pop star’s New Zealand omission on the Eras Tour calendar means Kiwi Swifties have had to look offshore to get their hands on tickets.

Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says the airline knows thousands of Kiwi fans will be looking to secure tickets – and flights – to see Taylor Swift live.

“When tour dates for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour were released last week, we saw a surge in demand for the final day of our Tasman sale with more than 3,500 Kiwis booking flights to coincide with concert dates.

“Now, as general release goes live tomorrow, we’re expecting another surge in demand for travel. To get more Swifties to Australia, we’ve added more than 2,000 seats around the concert dates so fans can travel to the show in ‘Style’ with Air New Zealand.”

The additional seats will be available for sale at 2:00pm tomorrow.

“Fans hoping to secure their flights will have to act fast, we expect the additional capacity will sell out swiftly.

“During high demand periods, fares increase so we can manage a small supply of seats for last minute travel. We also typically see higher demand and hence pricing for late week and weekend travel dates. We recommend Swifties get on board with booking flights early so they don’t miss out.”

Travel Weekly Australia also carried out a spot check on airfares to Sydney around the time of her concert.

Latest News

  • Aviation
  • News

Jetstar and Qantas perception ratings soar following Bonza’s implosion

Low-cost carrier Bonza Aviation recently entered voluntary administration, after it abruptly cancelled all its flights, leaving passengers stranded at airports in the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Avalon. Shortly after, Virgin Australia and Qantas (along with its low-cost arm Jetstar) offered to fly affected passengers to their destinations at no additional cost where seats […]

  • Road & Rail

Train over Plane – Journey Beyond releases The Overland’s 2025 season

For over 135 years, The Overland has been transporting guests between Adelaide and Melbourne and back again, connecting the two cities and regional towns in between. Due to an increased demand for considered travel that’s as much about the journey as it is the destination, Journey Beyond has announced the early release of The Overland’s 2025 schedule, which is […]

  • Cruise

AmaWaterways launches Australian operations at Sydney office with panoramic Harbour views

AmaWaterways’ US-based co-owner Gary Murphy and managing director AU/NZ Steve Richards have launched its Australian-based operations with the openeing of a new 30th floor office with panoramic views over Sydney Harbour. But the guest of honour was cruise veteran and Virtuso travel agent Barbara from Bondi who was responsible for the first local AmaWaterways booking, […]

  • Destinations
  • News

Travel insurance expert’s top 3 tips for Aussies stranded in New Caledonia amid riots

Air traffic in the French territory of New Caledonia remains at a standstill with both the domestic and international airports closed. Flights to and from Nouméa’-La Tontouta international airport were cancelled on Tuesday and aren’t expected to resume until Friday 17 May at the earliest. France has declared a state of emergency on the Pacific […]

  • Conferences

Perfect Somewheres: Hotels.com celebrates best-in-class venues for guest experiences

Hotels.com unveiled “Perfect Somewheres” 2024, a first-of-its-kind program celebrating a selection of the top 1 per cent of hotels on the Hotels.com app. Aimee Edwards was on the ground at the Expedia Group’s EXPLORE conference in Las Vegas for the announcement. Unlike other travel awards, Hotels.com Perfect Somewheres is based on a data-driven approach to […]

  • Aviation
  • News
  • Sustainability

Airports boss says $1.7 billion Budget innovation fund will “kickstart” domestic manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel

The government’s $1.7 billion investment in a Future Made In Australia Innovation Fund will give a “significant” boost to the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in Australia, James Goodwin CEO at the Australian Airports Association (AAA) told Travel Weekly. In the 2024-2025 budget released on Tuesday, the government said the $1.7 billion investment will […]

  • Business Travel

Apparent launches ‘All heart, no hassle’ campaign for Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveller

Apparent’s first integrated brand campaign goes live this week for Corporate Traveller, the flagship SME business-to-business brand of Flight Centre Travel Group. The campaign features a number of scenarios with playful headlines such as ‘We’re friends with (travel booking) benefits’ and ‘Corporate by name, not by nature’ which gives the campaign a cheekiness and levity […]

  • Tourism

Indaba 2024: Losing out on memory, South Africa Tourism hands its fate to children

Thembisile Sehloho was appointed as the new chief marketing officer (CMO) South Africa Tourism in early April, so she’s literally had her feet under the desk for just longer than a month. At Africa’s Travel Indaba, David Hovenden sat down with for her only Australian interview and discussed the work being done on South Africa […]

  • Cruise

ACA & CLIA join forces ahead of Australian Tourism Exchange

Australian Cruise Association (ACA) and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) will return to Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) this month to promote the diverse range of cruising products in Australia to the international travel market. ATE is a pivotal opportunity to position Australia’s thriving cruise industry on the global stage and will this year be held […]

  • Destinations

South Africa eyes affordable tourism to grow market

Australian tourists feeling the pinch from the cost-of-living crisis, might find an unlikely ally in South African Tourism in the future according to a panel at Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI). With six out of ten young Africans failing to explore their own continent, despite constituting the largest demographic within the 1.3 billion-strong African population, the […]

  • Luxury

COMO launches new family-sized farmhouse in the heart of Tuscany

COMO Hotels and Resorts has launched its new farmhouse apartments in the heart of Tuscany, just in time for Australians to escape our wet winter. And it’s also an ideal time for Aussies of Italian ancestry to explore their home country as 2024 has been declared the year of Roots and Heritage Tourism by the […]

  • Destinations
  • News

New Caledonia in lockdown and airport closed after violent riots rock Noumea

New Caledonia officials have announced a 6pm-6am curfew, a liquor ban and have closed the country’s main airport after overnight riots in which vehicles were torched and roads blocked in the wake of proposed constitutional reforms. Australian Government website Smartraveller has issued an alert informing visitors to exercise a high degree of caution in metropolitan […]