Freedom Air celebrates 10 years

Freedom Air celebrates 10 years

Freedom Air is celebrating 10 years of bringing cheaper and more accessible air travel to Kiwis this month.

The low cost, low fare airline, which began flying in December 1995 from Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch to Brisbane and Sydney, has steadily grown over the last decade, increasing its operations to six ports in New Zealand, four in Australia and Fiji.

During the last 10 years Freedom Air has flown more than 3,260,000 passengers between its various ports. About two thirds of these passengers are New Zealand holiday makers and Australians largely account for the remaining third with, more recently, some Fijian travellers.

Freedom Air’s General Manager Stephen Jones says celebrating 10 years is a significant milestone which underlines Freedom’s position as a major player in the highly competitive trans-Tasman market.

“It’s great to be 10. We thrive in this dynamic market, we know the New Zealand traveller well and as our passengers will tell you – there’s something inherently Kiwi about travelling with our airline. By providing that experience, Freedom Air plays a very important role in the Air New Zealand group – offering a low cost, family-friendly travel option, as well as more accessibility for all Kiwi travellers.”

Jones says one of the unique features of Freedom Air is that it flies directly from the regional areas of New Zealand: Hamilton, Palmerston North and Dunedin.

“People living in these areas have direct access to international travel and importantly we also provide a direct route for incoming tourists.”

As Freedom heads into its 11th year of operation, a brand new fleet of Airbus A320s and introduction of Suite Seats means the airline is now also better prepared to cater for the business market.

“While our core market will always be leisure travellers, we’ve been looking closely at our fleet scheduling for popular business routes to ensure we’re flying at the times that suit these travellers. And it’s great to have the new Suite Seats, which are eight bigger, leather upholstered 40” pitch seats in all of our aircraft. This new seating options caters for those who want a little more room in flight – ideal for the business traveller and those who want a little more luxury.”

As part of its birthday celebrations the airline will be thanking customers with special fares and will begin a series of special events in Freedom’s regional ports. Birthday celebrations begin in Hamilton with a street party on Saturday 10th of December with other major activities planned for 2006.

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