Our Assessment of competition in the domestic airline sector
In February and March 2025, we undertook an assessment of New Zealand’s domestic airline market to decide whether to self-initiate a competition study into the sector.
Our initial assessment of the domestic airline market suggests a market study would not be an effective way to drive stronger competition in the sector. This is because some of the most significant factors driving current concerns are structural and the result of economic factors wider than competition issues alone.
We are sharing both the assessment which details these factors and sets out our findings, and an opinion piece written by our Chair, Dr John Small. While we’re not undertaking a market study at this time, we will continue to monitor the sector, and we will act where we see conduct that falls foul of the laws we enforce.
If you believe one of the country’s domestic airlines has breached one of the laws we enforce, you can report it to us online.