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$47 Find cheap flights to South Island

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from New Zealand to South Island departing on 5/11. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
Sun 25/8
Sun 1/9

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Best South Island Flight Deals

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours

Christchurch
Christchurchdirect$115
Queenstown
Queenstowndirect$130
Nelson
Nelsondirect$141
Dunedin
Dunedindirect$132
Invercargill
Invercargilldirect$374
Blenheim
Blenheimdirect$195

Good to know

Low season

May

High season

December

Cheapest flight

$47
Best time to beat the crowds (6% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly and prices are also 2% lower on average.
Flight from Auckland to Christchurch

FAQs - booking South Island flights

  • How long is the flight to South Island?

    An average direct flight from New Zealand to South Island takes 3h 10m, covering a distance of 981 km. The most popular route is Auckland - Christchurch with an average flight time of 1h 20m.

  • What is the cheapest flight to South Island?

    The cheapest ticket to South Island from New Zealand found in the last 72 hours was $91. The most popular route is from Auckland to Christchurch and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $91.

  • Which airlines fly to South Island?

    Air New Zealand, Qantas Airways & Etihad Airways fly the most frequently from New Zealand to South Island.

  • What are the most popular destinations in South Island?

    Based on KAYAK flight searches, the most popular destination is Queenstown (38% of total searches to South Island). The next most popular destinations are Christchurch (38%) and Dunedin (8%). Searches for flights to Blenheim (7%), to Nelson (5%) and to Invercargill (3%) are also popular.

  • How does KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a given destination and date is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

See more FAQs

Top tips for finding cheap flights to South Island

  • Enter your preferred departure airport and travel dates into the search form above to unlock the latest South Island flight deals.

Top airlines flying to South Island

Need help choosing which airline to fly with from New Zealand to South Island? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.1
Air New ZealandOverall score based on 564 reviews
8.4Boarding
7.8Entertainment
8.7Crew
7.6Food
8.1Comfort
Airline reviews

Gate agent was fantastic in Auckland. They wanted to charge me for my two bags even though I was gold member with United in Tonga. So I had to pay for an upgrade. The meals on both flights had no vegetarian option. The only one item the salad was not tasty at all. Good thing I had brought my own snacks. The bread was white roll which is so not healthy. I think New Zealand air can definitely improve their food offering.

6.0 GoodSteve, Jul 2024TBU - AKL
Read more about Air New Zealand reviews

Gate agent was fantastic in Auckland. They wanted to charge me for my two bags even though I was gold member with United in Tonga. So I had to pay for an upgrade. The meals on both flights had no vegetarian option. The only one item the salad was not tasty at all. Good thing I had brought my own snacks. The bread was white roll which is so not healthy. I think New Zealand air can definitely improve their food offering.

The entire process was excellent! The economy sits are a bit snug so I'll have to be sure to purchase premier or business class next time but, other than that, food, service, attendants were exceptional. Gate agents and ticket agents too!

Can you please process refund. Mum died and dad went to Pakistan to bury her after cancelling flight.

Short flight so no entertainment, turbulence so no food service - overall flight as expected

All was good, the only thing was it didn't run on time.

Great meal. Best seats ever! They need to teach other airlines how to do that.

Overall excellent but the Captain kept the seat belt sign on for far too long, especially at the beginning and end of the flight. It was 2 hours after take-off before the crew were able to start the service (on an 11 hour night flight, reducing our sleeping time) and the seat belt sign on went on during breakfast (90 mins before landing) and was not turned off again until we landed. This made for an uncomfortable journey of trying to limit fluid intake because it was unclear when the toilets would be available for use.

The staff and crew on board were excellent. Business class however, was very weird. I thought we would have individual pods, but the way it was set up was unexpected. Not very private and If you wanted to lay down, you had to have an entire bed made up for you by the crew, rather than how Delta one works where you could just lie down whenever you feel like it. It was a 16 hour flight. I chose not to have my bed made, and that turned out to be a good idea because everybody who had their bed made had to wait for the crew to roll up their mattresses. So strange!

Food was not good. We asked for Muslim food and it was weird tasteless type of boiled veges.

Crew were pleasant, happy to be there and were a joy to be around. Entire operation was professional, well thought out and ran like a Swiss clock.

a constant reminder that you need to work harder so you can avoid this airline

Would be better if can provide small free snacks on a long flight

Boarding was easy and unstressful, though the early "final call" was a bit off-putting. The crew were pleasant, and the seats were comfortable. The prices for food and drink were reasonable, apart from tea and coffee, where simple percolated coffee was charged at espresso prices. Deboarding was OK, though some Jetstar passengers appear to have a bad habit of pushing forward from their assigned rows, making it more difficult to get out for passengers that have paid a premium to sit up-front. Jetstar might want to look to address this to stop it from spreading.

I got to the airport earlier than I expected, and they let me change to an earlier flight with no trouble.

The price difference/saving isn't sufficient to compensate the experience difference, don't recommend unless flight is under 3 hours. Huge queues for check in and the priority lane of other ailines blocked checked in Jetstar passengers from proceeding through to screening. Gate change to a "dungeon gate" that didn't have toilets in the vicinity. 45minute delay in boarding, no updates or explaination, let alone apology for any inconvenience. 1 scanner working for a full fight to board, no coordination. Loaded on to crowded buses to get on the plane in the middle of the tarmac, up stairs with no explaination. 4 bus trips. No system for boarding in sections. Over an hour late departing. Nothing complimentary, not even water or in-flight music. Pay wave not available and no cash sales. Staff onboard were friendly and professional.

Flight was delayed by 1 hour, we board then had to sit on the tarmac for another hour before take off. The flight was fine but again another delay with the baggage which took another hour to appear on the carousel.

Worst experience ever flying Melbourne to Phuket. 5 hours delayed! Didn’t land till 1am in the morning. Staff were rude and unhelpful

Plane was late leaving darwin so we didn’t get home till 1130pm 2nd time in a fortnight that has happened. Hard when you have to work the next day

It may have been a result of earlier issues with a previous plane, causing delays, but the staff were not nearly as smiley as the previous Jetstar flight I was on. Also, they started boarding before the plane was empty...so we moved from one line into another line. They should have just waited until the plane was empty to avoid waiting in two lines.

Captains address to passengers was excellent. Knee room in seating was very uncomfortable.

Book Cheap South Island Plane Tickets

Recent return flight deals

22/8Thu
directJetstar
0h 50mWLG-CHC
29/8Thu
directJetstar
0h 50mCHC-WLG
$115
15/8Thu
directJetstar
0h 50mWLG-CHC
19/8Mon
directJetstar
0h 50mCHC-WLG
$130
15/9Sun
directJetstar
1h 25mWLG-ZQN
18/9Wed
directJetstar
1h 15mZQN-WLG
$130
9/9Mon
directJetstar
1h 20mAKL-CHC
11/9Wed
directJetstar
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$132
30/11Sat
directAir New Zealand
1h 30mAKL-NSN
2/12Mon
directAir New Zealand
1h 30mNSN-AKL
$141
18/10Fri
directAir New Zealand
1h 20mWLG-DUD
21/10Mon
directAir New Zealand
1h 15mDUD-WLG
$141
14/10Mon
1 stop
4h 40mAKL-ZQN
18/10Fri
direct
1h 50mZQN-AKL
$173
15/9Sun
direct
1h 25mWLG-ZQN
18/9Wed
1 stop
12h 00mZQN-WLG
$180
23/8Fri
3 stopsEmirates
30h 45mAKL-CHC
27/8Tue
1 stopEmirates
20h 20mCHC-AKL
$2,025
29/8Thu
3 stopsEmirates
40h 55mAKL-CHC
31/8Sat
1 stopEmirates
18h 30mCHC-AKL
$2,093

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Recent one-way flight deals

5/11Tue
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
$47
15/10Tue
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
$51
28/11Thu
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
$52
10/9Tue
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
$56
17/9Tue
directAir New Zealand
1h 25mWLG-ZQN
$71
20/9Fri
directAir New Zealand
0h 55mZQN-CHC
$90
17/9Tue
1 stop
4h 00mWLG-ZQN
$120
5/11Tue
1 stop
7h 20mAKL-ZQN
$137
17/11Sun
1 stopEmirates
8h 45mAKL-ZQN
$1,089
5/9Thu
3 stopsEmirates
43h 25mAKL-CHC
$1,162

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Last minute flights to South Island

Last minute flight, train and bus deals

30/7Tue
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
6/8Tue
directJetstar
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$115
30/7Tue
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
30/7Tue
directJetstar
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$124
30/7Tue
directJetstar
1h 55mAKL-ZQN
6/8Tue
directJetstar
1h 50mZQN-AKL
$159
30/7Tue
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
2/8Fri
directJetstar
1h 20mCHC-AKL
$166
30/7Tue
directJetstar
1h 25mAKL-CHC
7/8Wed
multi-stopJetstar
6h 40mCHC-AKL
$186
30/7Tue
multi-stop
4h 25mAKL-CHC
2/8Fri
multi-stop
11h 20mCHC-AKL
$440
28/7Sun
directAir New Zealand
1h 55mAKL-DUD
11/8Sun
directAir New Zealand
1h 50mDUD-AKL
$484
26/7Fri
directAir New Zealand
1h 30mAKL-BHE
29/7Mon
directAir New Zealand
1h 30mBHE-AKL
$559
27/7Sat
directAir New Zealand
0h 55mWLG-CHC
28/7Sun
directAir New Zealand
0h 50mCHC-WLG
$667
26/7Fri
directAir New Zealand
1h 55mAKL-DUD
29/7Mon
directAir New Zealand
1h 50mDUD-AKL
$671

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Flights to South Island

Cabin classes:

$2,278
$1,118
$747
$91

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