Air New Zealand has announced a major sale on seats across its international network, confirming industry predictions that 2024 will bring lower airfares. 

Today, the airline said “tens of thousands of seats” are now on sale and would be until Friday, January 19. 

Flights from Auckland to Sydney are as low as $197 one way or $209 for Auckland to Melbourne. Further afield, Kiwis could get to the US for less than $550, with flights to Honolulu starting at $547 and LA from $697. 

Air New Zealand general manager long haul Scott Carr said the beginning of the year was a perfect time to put international destinations on sale as it would help those planning 2024 travel. 

“There’s no better way to start the year than to book an exciting holiday away to look forward to,” he said. However, not all flights or dates are on sale and customers are encouraged to check flights online. 

This announcement validates the hypothesis made by Flight Centre’s general manager, Heidi Walker, in December. 

With airline capacity back to around 90 per cent of pre-Covid levels, Walker said New Zealanders would have more choice and thus competition when it came to flights in 2024. 

“Though prices are still not back to ‘golden era’ levels, we are starting to see some sharp deals come to market and as capacity continues to increase and demand normalises further,” Walker said. 

Walker said the industry expected to see prices come down even more by the end of 2024. 

ASB economists agree that pricing pressures in the airline sector should cool further in the coming months. 

Air New Zealand’s sale fares starting from: 

• Auckland to Sydney from $197 one way 
• Auckland to Melbourne from $209 one way 
• Auckland to Brisbane from $223 one way 
• Auckland to Gold Coast from $244 one way 
• Auckland to Adelaide from $308 seat one way 
• Auckland to Sunshine Coast from $334 one way 
• Auckland to Cairns from $377 seat one way 
• Auckland to Perth from $569 seat one way 
• Christchurch to Sydney from $219 one way 
• Christchurch to Melbourne from $225 one way 
• Christchurch to Gold Cost from $244 one way 
• Wellington to Sydney from $219 one way 
• Wellington to Melbourne from $225 one way 
• Wellington to Brisbane from $268 one way 
• Auckland to Shanghai from $556 one way 
• Auckland to Taipei from $626 one way 
• Auckland to Denpasar (Bali) from $696 one way 
• Auckland to Hong Kong from $716 one way 
• Auckland to Tokyo from $756 one way 
• Auckland to Singapore from $786 one way 
• Auckland to Honolulu from $547 one way 
• Auckland to Los Angeles from $697 one way 
• Auckland to San Francisco from $727 one way 
• Auckland to Houston from $797 one way 
• Auckland to Chicago from $847 one way 
• Auckland to Vancouver from $857 one way 
• Auckland to Noumea from $235 one way 
• Auckland to Niue from $238 one way 
• Auckland to Tonga from $252 one way