A report showing Kiwi customers are paying more than Australians for the same flight is a product of different markets, says aviation commentator Irene King.
A MoneyHub report found people flying out of Auckland to some international destinations would pay more than if they had flown out of Australia through Auckland on the same flight.
"You've got a much more competitive market in Australia and Air New Zealand is really not in a dominant position there, so their pricing is in terms of what the market will be at," Ms Kind said.
The price difference is down to a lack of competition in NZ according to Moneyhub.
"Here in New Zealand, they have a lot of market power and what I call market reach, they can reach down into your pockets in lots of different ways."
"It's about making that extra dollar on that last seat."
MoneyHub's senior researcher Christopher Walsh said in a statement: "Travellers flying from Australia via Auckland on Air New Zealand will pay as little as 50 per cent of the airfare for the same flight if it was taken from New Zealand. Routes discounted the most included Los Angeles, Beunos Aires and San Francisco."
Air NZ's external communications consultant Kelly Kilgour told Newsroom the variance between flights was due to factors such as demand, competitors and currency changes.
"The reality is that less than half of all customers we carry to the USA every day commence their journeys in Auckland. We need to compete hard to attract that traffic," she told Newsroom.
Ms King said there was a lot of choice, especially out of Auckland, for New Zealanders to choose from.
"New Zealanders do choose to go with somebody else, but they would prefer Air New Zealand, and that's about reliability and frequency."
There were some instances were New Zealanders did do better. Booking domestic flights from New Zealand was cheaper than booking from overseas.
SHARE ME