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AIR fares across the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand are set to drop considerably early next year when Virgin Blue begins discounted flights between the two countries.
Australia's major airline Qantas has promised that it will increase services across the Tasman and introduce lower fares in a bid to fight off Virgin.
Add to this, Emirates, which is popular with Australian travellers, is also expected to announce lower fares on its services between the two countries, while Air New Zealand is launching its own discount airline, Tasman Express to join the fray.
Air New Zealand already flies its own planes across the Tasman and has its own no-frills airline, Freedom Air operating on the route, between several cities in both countries.
Virgin Blue will start a new carrier, Pacific Blue to operate the trans-Tasman services and is also fighting to start flying domestically in New Zealand. It has already opened local headquarters in Christchurch. It started just over two years ago in Australia from scratch, at the time Ansett collapsed, and has around 30 per cent of the Australian domestic traffic.