With Taylor Swift forgetting New Zealand for her upcoming Eras tour, Kiwis have wasted no time booking the next best thing, tickets to her scheduled shows in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. With the Tasman Sea separating swifties and seeing her live, airlines operating routes between New Zealand and Australia have seen a surge in bookings around her February concert dates.
Coinciding with an Air New Zealand Australia promo, the airline noted a surge in bookings, with over 3,500 for the dates surrounding the February shows. General Manager of Short-haul Jeremy O’Brien stated:
“This would probably be one of the greatest demands we’ve ever seen, particularly on the trans-Tasman perspective.”
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Extra flights added
The New Zealand flag carrier has already added extra flights around the dates to accommodate the increased demand for those looking to get across the ditch for the concerts. It will even allocate the flight number NZ1989, in honor of Taylor Swifts Grammy award-winning album, 1989. Air New Zealand’s O’Brien went onto note:
“When the concerts got announced, we did 3,500 passenger bookings. The following week we did another 6,000 passengers. So, about 10,000 Kiwis are taking that demand to go across the Tasman for the concerts.”
With demand peaking across the country, the airline responded with an extra 2,000 seats scheduled from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch across to Melbourne and Sydney. This wouldn’t be the first time the carrier had adjusted its schedule for a superstar; for example, when Ed Sheeran played in Auckland and Dunedin, domestically Air New Zealand flew the Boeing 787 Dreamliner domestically, upscaling from the usual narrowbody Airbus A320s.
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Qantas is also cashing in.
Trans-Tasman rival Qantas (QF) is also seeing a surge in demand both trans-Tasman and domestically within Australia. QF has added 16 extra flights across the ditch, with the airline also opting to upgrade the usual Boeing 737-8 deployed to New Zealand to the Airbus A330 on select flights. The flying kangaroo will schedule the sixteen extra flights between Sydney and Melbourne to Christchurch (eight) and Wellington (eight).
The extra flights are scheduled during the window of February 15th and 27th, and when including the carrier’s increased capacity across the ditch domestically in Australia, will represent an extra 11,000 seats across the concert period. A Qantas spokesperson stated:
“Our forward bookings showed a swift rise in demand for flights to Sydney and Melbourne next February, with a 1500 % increase in domestic bookings last week compared to last year. Adding 60 new flights interstate and trans-Tasman will make it easier for ticketholders to travel to Sydney and Melbourne and make their wildest dreams come true.’’
Virgin Australia isn’t immune to Taylor fever either, reporting increased bookings by 656% around the concert dates. However, the airline is yet to respond with additional capacity. Demand has peaked with Swifties traveling interstate, from Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, and Perth to Sydney and Melbourne to see Swift in person.
Sources: New Zealand Herald, Skift