Australian Flight Data

Brisbane to Christchurch

New Zealand · 480 months of data from Jan 1985 · Christchurch to Brisbane

Passengers
129,151
Brisbane to Christchurch, 12 months to May 2026
Both directions
261,433
including Christchurch to Brisbane
Flight time
3h 30m
35m shorter than the return
Load factor
77%
seats filled on this leg

Traffic: 12 months to May 2026

129,151 passengers flew Brisbane to Christchurch in the 12 months to May 2026, out of 261,433 on the route in both directions. Flights run about 77% full, much the same in both directions. This route has been reported for 40 years.

The route

Brisbane Christchurch

Distances are true from Brisbane; the ring marks the distance to Christchurch.

How long is the flight?

Scheduled flight time from Brisbane to Christchurch is 3h 30m gate to gate, over 2,498 km. Coming back takes 4h 5m — a difference of 35m, so this direction is the quicker one.

Scheduled block time — gate to gate, not time in the air — taken from the current timetable for this leg. Long-haul flights are often timetabled differently in each direction because of winds aloft, so the return is not always the same length. Check your own booking for the flight you are taking.

Flight numbers on this route

3 flight numbers currently scheduled from Brisbane to Christchurch. These are the numbers you book under.

Scheduled every day this week — 17 departures in all.

Qantas · 2 · Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-800 (winglets)

QF133 · QF135

Air New Zealand · 1 · Airbus A320, Airbus A321neo (Sharklets)

NZ204

Current timetable as at 2026-09-06

Timetables change, and these carry no punctuality figures of their own — no on-time data is published for international flights at all. The passenger and load factor figures above cover the route, not any single flight number.

Passengers, 1985 to 2026

013,20726,413 May 2025Nov 2025May 2026
013,20726,413Delta lockdowns close the eastern states — Jul 2021 Bonza launches on leisure routes — Nov 2023 Bonza collapses after 15 months — Mar 2024 Rex enters administration and exits the trunk routes — Aug 2024 Cyclone Alfred closes south-east Queensland airports — Mar 2025 May 2021Feb 2024May 2026
014,81529,629Tigerair Australia stops flying — Feb 2020 COVID-19 border closures begin — Mar 2020 Rex enters the trunk routes with jets — Mar 2021 Delta lockdowns close the eastern states — Jul 2021 Bonza launches on leisure routes — Nov 2023 Bonza collapses after 15 months — Mar 2024 Rex enters administration and exits the trunk routes — Aug 2024 Cyclone Alfred closes south-east Queensland airports — Mar 2025 May 2016Feb 2022May 2026
017,43534,870The pilots' dispute grounds domestic aviation — Aug 1989 Domestic deregulation ends the Two Airline Policy — Oct 1990 Virgin Blue launches — Aug 2000 Ansett Australia collapses — Sep 2001 Jetstar launches — May 2004 OzJet's all-business experiment ends within months — Jan 2006 Tiger Airways Australia enters the market — Apr 2008 Volcanic ash cloud disrupts southern Australia — Jun 2011 Qantas grounds its entire fleet — Oct 2011 Skywest becomes Virgin Australia Regional Airlines — May 2013 Tigerair Australia stops flying — Feb 2020 COVID-19 border closures begin — Mar 2020 Rex enters the trunk routes with jets — Mar 2021 Delta lockdowns close the eastern states — Jul 2021 Bonza launches on leisure routes — Nov 2023 Bonza collapses after 15 months — Mar 2024 Rex enters administration and exits the trunk routes — Aug 2024 Cyclone Alfred closes south-east Queensland airports — Mar 2025 Jan 1985Jan 2005May 2026

To May 2026 · Marks show industry events

How full were the flights?

Inbound load factor, read as a floor rather than an exact figure. Some flights on this pair also carried passengers to and from other cities, and their seats cannot be split between those journeys. Dividing by every seat on every aircraft that touched the route gives the lowest the true figure can be, so actual occupancy is at or above the line. Seat data begins in 2009, so this series is shorter than the passenger chart above.

73%79%84% May 2025Nov 2025May 2026
37%67%97% May 2021Mar 2024May 2026
34%65%97% May 2016Jul 2021May 2026
34%65%97% Sep 2003Dec 2014May 2026

Load factor: seats data from 2009

When is this route busiest?

Average passengers by calendar month over the last ten years, relative to the annual average.

J: 1.10× the annual average J F: 0.83× the annual average F M: 0.98× the annual average M A: 1.01× the annual average A M: 0.84× the annual average M J: 0.86× the annual average J J: 1.02× the annual average J A: 1.02× the annual average A S: 1.00× the annual average S O: 1.09× the annual average O N: 1.07× the annual average N D: 1.16× the annual average D

Freight

Tonnes of air freight carried on this route — a dimension the domestic data does not have at all.

01530 May 2025Nov 2025May 2026
01632 May 2021Feb 2024May 2026
087174 May 2016Feb 2022May 2026
0283566 Jan 1985Jan 2005May 2026

To May 2026

The route in numbers

Busiest month on record34,870 · Aug 2009
Data coverageJan 1985 – May 2026 (480 months)
Freight, 12 months to May 2026294 tonnes
Destination regionNew Zealand

No punctuality data is published for international services, so there are no cancellation or on-time figures on this page. That series covers domestic routes only.

Related routes

From Brisbane

To Christchurch

Airport data