$328 Find Cheap Flights from Cairns to New Zealand – Compare and Save

This is the cheapest one-way flight price found by a KAYAK user in the last 72 hours by searching for a flight from Cairns to New Zealand departing on 15/10. Fares are subject to change and may not be available on all flights or dates of travel. Click the price to replicate the search for this deal.
1 adult
1 adult, Economy, 0 bags

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Cheap Flights from Cairns to New Zealand

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Auckland
Auckland1 stop$630
Queenstown
Queenstown1 stop$767
Christchurch
Christchurchdirect$479
Wellington
Wellington1 stop$763
Nelson
Nelson2 stops$1,063
Auckland
Auckland1 stop$630
Queenstown
Queenstown1 stop$767
Christchurch
Christchurchdirect$479
Wellington
Wellington1 stop$763
Nelson
Nelson2 stops$1,063

Book Cheap Cairns to New Zealand Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for return flights from Cairns to New Zealand that are departing in the next months. While these flights were available on KAYAK in the last 72 hours, prices and availability are subject to change and deals may expire.
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent return flight deals from Cairns to New Zealand

Sun, 13 Sep - Mon, 21 Sep
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$479Jetstar
Sun, 13 Sep - Mon, 21 Sep
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$493Jetstar
Tue, 8 Sep - Mon, 14 Sep
Multiple Airlines Logo
07:30 - 14:25
CNS
-
CHC
28h 55m
1 stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$674Multiple Airlines
Sun, 13 Sep - Mon, 21 Sep
Multiple Airlines Logo
06:00 - 00:20
CNS
-
CHC
16h 20m
1 stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$679Multiple Airlines
Fri, 11 Sep - Thu, 17 Sep
Virgin Australia Logo
19:15 - 12:20
CNS
-
ZQN
15h 05m
1 stop
Virgin Australia Logo
17:40 - 20:20
ZQN
-
CNS
28h 40m
1 stop
$767Virgin Australia
Fri, 11 Sep - Thu, 17 Sep
Virgin Australia Logo
19:15 - 12:20
CNS
-
ZQN
15h 05m
1 stop
Virgin Australia Logo
17:40 - 20:20
ZQN
-
CNS
28h 40m
1 stop
$769Virgin Australia
Sat, 26 Sep - Mon, 5 Oct
Air New Zealand Logo
11:55 - 18:35
CNS
-
AKL
4h 40mdirect
Air New Zealand Logo
07:10 - 09:45
AKL
-
CNS
5h 35mdirect
$802Air New Zealand
Sat, 26 Sep - Mon, 5 Oct
Air New Zealand Logo
11:55 - 18:35
CNS
-
AKL
4h 40mdirect
Air New Zealand Logo
07:10 - 09:45
AKL
-
CNS
5h 35mdirect
$803Air New Zealand
Sat, 28 Nov - Mon, 30 Nov
Qantas Airways Logo
11:40 - 00:05
CNS
-
AKL
9h 25m
1 stop
Qantas Airways Logo
08:00 - 22:40
AKL
-
CNS
17h 40m
2 stops
$1,083Qantas Airways
Thu, 10 Dec - Sun, 20 Dec
Qantas Airways Logo
13:50 - 07:35
CNS
-
AKL
14h 45m
2 stops
Qantas Airways Logo
16:35 - 22:40
AKL
-
CNS
9h 05m
1 stop
$1,093Qantas Airways
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Cairns to New Zealand flights

Get data-powered insights and trends into flights from Cairns to New Zealand to help you find the cheapest flights, the best time to fly, and much more.

What is the cheapest Cairns to New Zealand flight route?

Data is based on round-trip flight searches on KAYAK over the past month.

The cheapest ticket to New Zealand from Cairns found in the last 5 days was to Christchurch, at $397 return. The most popular route is from Cairns (CNS) to Christchurch (CHC), and the cheapest return airline ticket found on this route in the last 5 days was $397.

What is the cheapest time of day to fly to New Zealand?

The average price for all round-trip flights from Cairns to New Zealand depending on the time of departure, clicked by users on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

The cheapest time of day to fly to New Zealand is generally in the morning, when retur flights cost $911 on average. The most expensive time of day to fly to New Zealand is generally in the morning, which is peak travel time and where the average cost of a ticket is $911.

Can I save money by flying with a stopover from Cairns to New Zealand?

The average return price for all direct flights, flights with one stopover, and flights with two stopovers for the route found by users searching on KAYAK in the last 2 weeks.

Yes, flying with a stopover may cost you more time, but you can also save money on the route, with a 1 stop stopover the cheapest option at $781 on average.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Cairns to New Zealand?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Cairns to New Zealand, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the median of all values for each month.

The cheapest month for flights from Cairns to New Zealand is May, when tickets cost $519 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are April and December, when the average cost of return tickets is $802 and $794 respectively.

How far in advance should I book a flight from Cairns to New Zealand?

To calculate weekly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each week before departure over the last year for round-trip flights from Cairns to New Zealand, removes the top 0.1% to account for outliers, and then takes the average of all the values for each week.

To get a below-average price on the flight from Cairns to New Zealand, you should book around 1 week before departure. For the absolute cheapest price, our data suggests you should book 23 weeks before departure.

Good to know

Low season

October

Cheapest flight

$328
Best time to beat the crowds (3% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (20% more expensive on average)
Flight from Cairns to Christchurch

FAQs - booking New Zealand flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Cairns to New Zealand?

    KAYAK is a travel search engine. That means we look across the web to find the best prices we can find for our users. With over 2 billion flight queries processed yearly, we are able to display a variety of prices and options on flights from Cairns to New Zealand.

  • How does KAYAK's flight Price Forecast tool help me choose the right time to buy my flight ticket from Cairns to New Zealand?

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Cairns to New Zealand is likely to change within 7 days, so travellers know whether to wait or book now.

  • What is the Hacker Fare option on flights from Cairns to New Zealand?

    Hacker Fares allow you to combine one-way tickets in order to save you money over a traditional return ticket. You could then fly from Cairns to New Zealand with an airline and back with another airline.

  • What is KAYAK's "flexible dates" feature and why should I care when looking for a flight from Cairns to New Zealand?

    Sometimes travel dates aren't set in stone. If your preferred travel dates have some wiggle room, flexible dates will show you all the options when flying from Cairns to New Zealand up to 3 days before/after your preferred dates. You can then pick the flights that suit you best.

  • How many flights are there between Cairns and New Zealand per day?

    Each day, there are between 1 and 2 direct flights that take off from Cairns and land in New Zealand, with an average flight time of 4h 47m. The most common departure time is 07:00 and most flights take off in the morning, while the most flights land at Auckland. Each week, there are 5 flights. The most frequent day of departure is Thursday, when 40% of all weekly flights depart. The fewest flights depart on a Monday.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to New Zealand

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Cairns to the following destinations at these prices or less: Auckland $562 one-way - $745 round-trip; Christchurch $368 one-way - $424 round-trip

Reviews of the top 4 airlines flying from Cairns to New Zealand

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Cairns to New Zealand? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.0
Air New ZealandOverall score based on 657 reviews
8.2Boarding
7.4Entertainment
8.5Crew
7.9Comfort
7.5Food
Airline reviews

We got to experience Premium Economy from Sydney to Auckland and it was a great experience wiht Air New Zealand. The crew was friendly and helpful.

10.0 ExcellentManish, May 2026
SYD - AKL
Read more Air New Zealand reviews

We got to experience Premium Economy from Sydney to Auckland and it was a great experience wiht Air New Zealand. The crew was friendly and helpful.

I was not even on that flight and did not even book a ticket. Kayak did a phenomenal job

Great entertainment options on the screen. uSB A and C chargers. Free WiFi! Crew were excellent.

Check in crew member was very helpful, nice and excellent service👍

Lost my luggage and brought someone else luggage to my airport.

The issue was with getting our boarding pases. There were issues with our arrangements that were made through Kayak. I am sorry to say that we will not use you again because of this. The flight itself was good and the flight attendants excellent.

Economy was much nicer on the Air New Zealand planes.

At Coolangatta International it is difficult to hear voice boarding announcements when away from screen announcements.

They announced food service but then never came around. We also couldn’t land so kept trying to get to runway and then had to come up and go around happened like 3 times and cause the child next to me to start throwing up

Just a hiccup being added to the NZ Traveller Declaration a bit late.

Good flight. On time. No problems. Plane was clean. Service was as you would expect. However nothing special, just a good flight.

Plane was late and they wouldn’t check our bags through to Tokyo

Checked Baggage line up was long but moved quickly, rest of the process, boarding, crew was excellent

Virgin changed the flight to an Alliance flight. Smaller plane, tea coffee and water the only refreshments available and not sure what happened to the extra money I paid to sit in a selected seat with extra leg room. This is obviously a regular switch as it happened on our flight there and back. Do not recommend.

Late boarding, late departure due to weather and slow boarding, packed 5+hour flight, only 2 toilets for main cabin, tight leg room, no free food except tea, coffee, and water, arrived 75 minutes late.

Cramped, crowded flight, with no complimentary food except coffee, tea, or water.

Boarding was smooth after a 25 min delay. Notification of delay could be more efficient and change in boarding gate was not notified on the flights board or app.

Excellent. Shelley was very attentive and caring regarding my sister who required pre approved oxygen during the flight. Shelley checked up on her regularly throughout the flight and made her feel more relaxed and comfortable.

Easy process and no delays. Economy-X seats could do with some lumbar support and the padding in the seat pan was compressed so a little uncomfortable, but LOVE the legroom.

If it wasn’t delayed over 2 hours and then asked people to volunteer to go tomorrow.

I missed my flight due to unforeseen circumstances It was, however , an excellent price !

Very good overall. Highly recommend for all flying to Australia

Qantas is always subpar beyond comfy chairs for a domestic flight

A few more inches of legroom is all i ask

Airline running better than post Covid, proper boarding process now implemented, some aircraft feeling a bit old and tired, crew fine, online experience better.

Inflight entertainment, poor that there are no headrest screens on aircraft used for an international flight.

Touch screens were very difficult to use, generally being laggy and unresponsive- it was quite an art to get it to play the thing you wanted rather than some thing at random. Selection of films and Tv was good when touchscreen decided to finally respond.

Their aircraft are old and amenities lack way behind other international carriers leaving from BNE. Even in economy

Everything was perfect. Fast check-in and very roomy seats with plenty of legroom. There was no entertainment but I did not miss it.

My flight from Sydney to LA the headphones and the jack didn’t work. I informed the crew member it was an over 15 hour flight with no sound in entertainment. I asked if they had kosher or halal options in one of the flights to Brisbane, the crew member wasn’t pleasant in the reply. I took the vegetarian option that’s fine but surely the crew member can say no in a more pleasant way. Although I had a great time in Australia. Thank you

Flight on time. New plane. No entertainment screen just device. No offer of water. Didn’t order food.

Jet star delayed both trips with poor communication. Passengers were made to change gates often and then left to stand with no seating. As someone getting over surgery this was very trying.

stuck in the aircraft for over three hours due to engineering work, significantly delayed and made a lot of passengers missed the connecting transport, no mention any compensation

Very quiet plane!! One of the quietest planes we have been on.

Comfortable seats, boarding was easy and staff were very nice.

The flight was over an hour late due to staff shortages and due to it being the last evening flight, I got back to Sydney very late

This was the most horrific experience we have ever had. I would advise people to steer clear of this airline at all costs.

Flight departing too early at 06.15 Difficult to get to airport

The plane was new. There are two rows of business 2 x 2, but the seat pitch is the same as the rest of the plane (3 x 3). Carry ons must be weighed and tagged before boarding. Do this at home to avoid nasty surprises.

They experienced problems with the opening of the front door when we flew into Adelaide

Everything you need to know for your flight from Cairns to New Zealand

Information on your arrival and departure airports