After experiencing not a smooth start during the first week operating the routes, departure times have been rescheduled on Jetstar domestic services by between five minutes and more than two hours.

Last week, Qantas-owned budget carrier Jetstar initiated flying between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown, replacing Qantas on the routes.

According to a well known newspaper, half of the domestic services departed more than an hour late in the difficult first week.

The schedule will be changed by the airline from 24th June to improve its on-time performance. An extension by five minutes has been introduced in flight times to Wellington and Queenstown, partly to allow for often challenging weather conditions at those airports.

Wednesday saw a third 180-seat Airbus A320 arriving in the country and improved on-time performance to about 60%.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said, "Anyone whose flight had been changed by more than two hours would be offered a new time or a refund, those affected by less than two hours would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis." The revised schedule was in place until October 24.

(via TopNews New Zealand. Contributed by Omaka Nelson)