Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# Internal flight question Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Cook Islands
stego98 02:55 UTC 16 Oct 2012 | Hi, After a recent change of travel plans, my girlfriend and I are spending 2 weeks in the Cook Islands next June. Got a good deal from Virgin Australia, and in the middle of choosing accommodation. Question is, how soon do Air Rarotonga internal flights to/from Aitutaki book out? Our travel date is 8 months away, but most of the flights appear to be sold out, so much so, that our dates of travel beween the islands will have to change and best times are not available. Will more flighs become available, or are people simply booking them all out so far ahead? I heard that a new airline Kia Orana Air was trying to start operating, though there has been some problems. Latest news I could find was from April 2012, which stated their application was still under consideration. Should I just go ahead and book the flights as I dont want to miss out?? Thanks |
araura 04:27 UTC 16 Oct 2012 | Air Raro flights between Rarotonga and Aitutaki are code shared with Air New Zealand. Try looking for flights through the ANZ web site. June is high season so it is possible that people are booking that far in advance. You might also want to check with various travel agencies such as Flight Centre. They sometimes have blocks of seats set aside. Some accommodations on Aitutaki such as the Tamanu Beach Resort sometimes have packages that include air travel between Raro and Aitutaki so you might want to check that out. As to Kia Orana Air, I'm afraid it isn't going to happen. | 1
stego98 04:56 UTC 16 Oct 2012 | ANZ dont sell Raro-Ait tickets on their site, and the resort packages are too expensive. Couldn't find any agents supplying tickets for Aitutaki. Looks like I'll just have to book what I can on Air Raro website. I know its high season, but didn't think seats would be sold out so far in advance. I suppose the aircrafts only cater for 25-30 people each. Thanks | 2
anillos_de_saturno 16:25 UTC 16 Oct 2012 | Latest news I could find was from April 2012, which stated their application was still under consideration. You can read here news from May. Sorry, I can't help you with your Air Rarotonga question. | 3
agingaquarian 18:20 UTC 16 Oct 2012 | Try contacting Island Hopper Vacations in Raro. A long established company which specialises in island holidays. I think they'd be well able to advise you about the advisability of booking so far ahead, fares etc. Oh and it's quite right about no competitor to Air Raro happening. I wasn't at all surprised when it didn't happen. Edited by: agingaquarian | 4
h2ooh 19:56 UTC 16 Oct 2012 | You need to go back and take another look at the Air Rarotonga web site. I just checked and virtually all the flights in June 2013 show the fully-flex seats available. Generally speaking you're OK waiting until 60 days out or so to book with Air Raro. http://www.airraro.com | 5
raideress 07:54 UTC 18 Oct 2012 | Im looking at booking that flight through Jetsaver in rarotonga, got a good quote too :) look them up online | 6