According to recent media reports, Qantas will add seven supplementary services between Melbourne and Queenstown. This is to coincide with an increase in travel demand over the summer period. Mr Grant Lilly, who is the Qantas Regional General Manager New Zealand and Pacific Island, said that extra capacity will benefit the New Zealand tourism industry, and they will be pleased to offer their customers an extra service next week. This will, of course, come on top of the existing three return service per week on the Melbourne to Queenstown route.

He went on to say that it will also help to encourage Australians to make their holidays in Queenstown. Their full service offering allows passengers to enjoy a meal or refreshment while they sit back and relax. People can simply enjoy the ride and watch the in flight entertainment.

These additional weekly flights will operate from December 18^th of 2010 till January 29^th of 2011. The Melbourne to Queenstown service will operate on Saturdays on QF177. It will be departing at 9:30am and return on QF1788 around 3:35pm.

These additional supplementary summer services are on top of the extra flights that Qantas has added to support the heavy demand for the Winter ski season. As part of the increased winter schedule, an extra Melbourne to Queenstown service will operate weekly, as will a weekly flight between Brisbane and Queenstown.

These new flights will be a very welcome addition for many Qantas passengers. Experts say that it’s great to finally see an airline offer up some good news during a time when many airlines are doing nothing more than cutting their services.