An Auckland-based businessman will pay $38,000 for a private jet flight to the Gold Coast but is seeking more passengers to cover the cost of the return flight.
Developer Kevin Carlin is organising the February 3 flight for the businessman.
It is part of a service he plans to operate full time once an Australian-New Zealand travel bubble is in place.
Air New Zealand’s first quarantine-free flights from New Zealand to Queensland began on Thursday, but it was a one-way agreement, meaning travellers from Brisbane still needed to go into managed isolation in New Zealand for 14 days.
Carlin said the total cost of the private February 3 flight was about $76,000.
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The businessman was prepared to pay half and Carlin was looking for passengers to help pay the rest and potentially reduce the price for each traveller.
The Falcon 900 could carry 12 people each way, which, if fully booked, would bring the cost to about $3000 per person, he said.
Those wanting to travel to New Zealand now would struggle to get a slot in managed isolation, which is currently booked out until late March, but there may be people who had already booked spots but had flights cancelled, Carlin said.
“That has happened to me three times,” he said.
A managed isolation and quarantine spokesperson said private flight details were loaded into the managed isolation allocation system once confirmed.
Voucher holders could change their flight details online, as long as the new flight arrived on the same date as the existing voucher.
Carlin said the price of the flight would cover food prepared by Michelin-starred chefs, Veuve champagne – “not the cheap stuff” – and a private customs agent who would board the plane at its destination.
“It includes exclusivity and a bit of romance or fun.”
The private travellers would avoid interaction with hundreds of other passengers and standing in queues at terminals.
The flights also had the advantage of being able to fly on any day and at any time.
Carlin said he already had bookings from people keen to cross the Tasman as soon as a travel bubble between the countries was opened, including people on the Gold Cost who owned homes worth between $3 million and $5m in Queenstown.
There were also people in Queenstown who owned property in Australian holiday spots such as Noosa and were looking forward to going there, he said.
The cost was about double the pre-Covid price of a business class ticket with Air New Zealand.
Carlin would return to New Zealand next week from the Gold Coast to resume oversight of the construction of his six-star central Queenstown hotel, The Carlin Hotel, which he hoped to open in December.
He had also partnered with commercial property investor Augusta Capital to build a five-star hotel in Queenstown.
Carlin said he expected there would be strong demand for high-end travellers to come to New Zealand and Queenstown.
The private jet service and chauffeur-driven travel service would be offered alongside the six-star hotel, providing door-to-door service between the east coat of Australia and Queenstown.
Carlin hoped to use the private jet service himself once it was operating on a more regular basis.
“I’ll go as crew. I’ll pour champagne and get people seated if there’s turbulence,” he said.
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