Competition, Route Expansion and Fleet Changes
By the end of 1995, Air New Zealand had established Freedom Air via its subsidiary Mount Cook Airline and operated in direct competition with Kiwi, offering the same routes and a similar fare structure. In early 1996, Kiwi replaced its Boeing 727 with a leased Boeing 757 from the UK-based company Air 2000, later replaced by a Boeing 737. Freedom Air also operated a Boeing 737. Kiwi also added a second aircraft, an Airbus A320, and expanded its network to include Christchurch and the Australian city of Melbourne. By September 1996, trans-Tasman fares reached historic lows of $199 for return tickets between Melbourne/Christchurch and Melbourne/Hamilton.
Both Kiwi and Freedom operated with ad-hoc liveries based on those of their lessors; Kiwi used a stylised Kiwi bird, while Freedom Air used a stylised sun.
Read more about this topic: Kiwi Travel International Airlines
Famous quotes containing the words route, expansion and/or fleet:
“A route differs from a road not only because it is solely intended for vehicles, but also because it is merely a line that connects one point with another. A route has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects. A road is a tribute to space. Every stretch of road has meaning in itself and invites us to stop. A route is the triumphant devaluation of space, which thanks to it has been reduced to a mere obstacle to human movement and a waste of time.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“The fundamental steps of expansion that will open a person, over time, to the full flowering of his or her individuality are the same for both genders. But men and women are rarely in the same place struggling with the same questions at the same age.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)
“On the middle of that quiet floor
sits a fleet of small black ships,
square-rigged, sails furled, motionless,
their spars like burned matchsticks.”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)