It’s Friday, and the week closes on what fuel is doing to the domestic traveller’s wallet. Here’s what’s moving.
New Zealand has the fourth-largest per-person rise in fuel costs in the world
New data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air puts the extra cost of this year’s oil shock at US$468 billion worldwide, and on a per-person basis only the United States, Canada and Australia have been hit harder than New Zealand, RNZ reported. Diesel here is up US55 cents, or about NZ99 cents, a litre on its pre-conflict price, the tenth-largest rise anywhere. Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said fuel spending per person up 27 percent on a year ago while the implied volume bought is down about 12 percent, and public transport spending on cards is up 18 percent since February. His summary: “We’re spending more, we’re driving less.”
That is the domestic drive market in one line. Eckhold said households are paying for fuel with money that would otherwise have gone on “nice-to-haves”, which is the category a weekend away, a winery lunch or a paid attraction falls into. The pump price itself has eased slightly from its peak: Gaspy data had 91 averaging $3.51 and diesel $3.17 on Thursday.
The odd counterpoint is that firms have stopped flinching. ANZ’s business confidence survey rose a point to 53 in October, with forward activity indicators still solidly positive, and chief economist Sharon Zollner said businesses now seem to treat volatility as “the new normal” and are pushing on with plans, a sharp change from March, when the first oil shock sent confidence down hard. Operators can plan for summer with some confidence. What they cannot assume is that domestic customers will spend as freely as their own suppliers are.
Stat of the day
27%
The rise in fuel spending per person on a year ago, while the volume of fuel bought fell about 12 percent. (Westpac, via RNZ)
Skynest misses the summer peak, but the new Dreamliner flies anyway
Air New Zealand will not install Skynest, its lie-flat bunks for economy passengers, until after the summer peak, RNZ reported. The product was due to launch in December. The airline said the overseas authority certifying it could not finish approvals in time because of resource constraints, while a separate local certification is progressing well. No new launch date has been set.
Rather than park the aircraft waiting for the bunks, the airline is putting it straight into service. Its newest 787-9 flew in from Boeing’s San Antonio plant on Thursday night, the first Dreamliner anywhere certified with a higher maximum take-off weight for ultra long-range flying such as Auckland to New York, and another is due within days. Chief customer and digital officer Jeremy O’Brien called it a pragmatic decision for the airline’s busiest season.
The trade-off is a fair one. Skynest is a marketing hook for the longest routes, but what the summer actually needs is seats, and two new widebodies arriving before Christmas matter more to inbound capacity than a bunk product would. For anyone selling New Zealand in North America, the line to drop from this summer’s pitch is “try the bunks on the way down”.
Source: RNZ
Christchurch keeps Singapore all year and gets Bali for winter 2027
Air New Zealand has made its new Christchurch to Singapore service year-round, extending what was announced in May as a seasonal route, and will fly Christchurch to Denpasar, Bali, three times a week over winter 2027 through to the end of August, the airline said. The announcement came hours after the first Singapore departure on Wednesday, the airline’s first widebody flying between the two cities in six years. Bali fares go on sale later this year.
The two halves do different jobs. Bali is an outbound product, a winter escape for South Islanders. Singapore running through the New Zealand winter is the inbound piece, because it keeps a one-stop Asia and Europe connection into the South Island in the months when visitor businesses most need it. Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson framed both as the first results of the airport’s new partnership with the airline, after the new Singapore, Tokyo and Perth services.
Source: Air New Zealand
ULTRA returns to Wellington’s waterfront on 16 April 2027
The ULTRA electronic music festival will come back to Wellington Waterfront on Friday 16 April 2027, Wellington City Council announced, with pre-sale registration open and the line-up still to come. The first edition in April sold out in about three weeks and drew 23,320 unique attendees. The council said an independent evaluation found 9,496 people travelled to the region because of it, spending $5.46 million and more than 23,000 visitor nights, for a net national benefit of $8.57 million.
WellingtonNZ’s earlier summary of the same Fresh Info report adds the shape of that spend: about 40 percent of attendees from out of region, staying an average of 2.43 nights and spending $575 each. That is the useful part for anyone in the capital. A one-day festival that produces more than two nights a head is a weekend of hotel, restaurant and bar trade in April, outside the summer peak. The 2027 edition again has backing from the Government’s Events Attraction Package and the city’s Major Events Fund.
Source: Wellington City Council, RNZ, WellingtonNZ
Wellington councillors want free weekend parking from 5 December to 10 January
Wellington City councillors are proposing free weekend parking in five council-owned buildings, Barnett Street, Clyde Quay, Frank Kitts, Clifton Terrace and Tory Street, from 5 December to 10 January, RNZ reported. Mayor Andrew Little said the council wants the central city “bustling” this Christmas, and the Chamber of Commerce said it would help retailers and hospitality after a tough year. Chief executive Matt Prosser will now arrange it, including consulting NZTA, before the full council makes a final decision.
It is a small lever, but it pulls in the opposite direction to Auckland, where Cornwall Park starts charging on 1 December. Read alongside the fuel numbers above, it is also a reminder of who the city is courting over the holidays: regional day-trippers deciding whether the drive is worth it.
Source: RNZ
Coming up
- 1 November: Backcountry Hut Tickets move to DOC’s online booking system
- 4 November: Tourism Summit Aotearoa and the NZ Tourism Awards, Te Pae Christchurch
- 7 November: General election
- 11 November: Princess Cruises’ 2028/29 Australia and New Zealand season opens for sale (Australian time)
- 14 November: Contractors start on the Hahei Beach Short Walk reroute
- 22 November: Three Singapore services in a day at Christchurch, 1,560 seats on the route
- 28 November: Air New Zealand’s first Christchurch to Tokyo Narita service
- 30 November: Air New Zealand’s first Christchurch to Perth service
- 1 December: Paid parking starts at Cornwall Park, Auckland
- 5 December to 10 January: Proposed free weekend parking in five Wellington council car park buildings, subject to a full council decision
- December: Reserve Bank’s next OCR decision, with ANZ, ASB and Westpac expecting a rise
- 16 April 2027: ULTRA New Zealand, Wellington Waterfront
- Winter 2027: Air New Zealand’s Christchurch to Bali service, three a week to the end of August
- 1 July 2027: New Border Processing Levy rates take effect, with arriving cruise passengers paying $7.20
That's today's briefing. The Shoulder Season is back every weekday morning.