Air New Zealand Australian Fares Guide 1982

 

Air New Zealand Australian Fares Guide 1 October 1982

Air New Zealand Australian Fares Guide 1 October 1982

In October 1982 Air New Zealand was only flying direct Trans-Tasman flights from Auckland and Christchurch, and from there to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (plus Perth and Norfolk Island from Auckland).  This is its fares guide and should be understood in the context of bilateral international air rights negotiations and highly regulated fares set by mutual agreement between governments. 

Services were at the time solely operated by Boeing 747s from Auckland and Christchurch (Wellington fares presumably reflected inclusion of domestic connections to those airports), and 737-200s to Norfolk Island.  The 737s had single class service, but the 747 offered economy, business (branded Pacific) and first class.

Assuming a general inflation comparison, every dollar at the time of this fare schedule would be $4.41 today.  So that means quite some airfares:

Auckland-Sydney economy with the cheapest fare was $390 return or $1719 in equivalent value today

Christchurch-Sydney full economy was $716 return or $3158 in today's dollars

Auckland-Melbourne in business class (which at the time was equivalent to premium economy of today plus lounge access) was $954 return or $4207 in today's dollars

Auckland-Perth in first class (after all, it's a longer flight) was $2404 return or $10601 in today's dollars.

The general efficiencies of the airline industry have made a big difference, as has greater competition, which was facilitated by the end of Government-approved airfares in the late 1980s.