$332 Find Cheap Flights from Cairns to South Island – 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 South Island departing on 22/10. 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 South Island

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Queenstown
Queenstown1 stop$711
Christchurch
Christchurchdirect$485
Nelson
Nelson2 stops$1,114
Queenstown
Queenstown1 stop$711
Christchurch
Christchurchdirect$485
Nelson
Nelson2 stops$1,114

Book Cheap Cairns to South Island Plane Tickets

 
Here are some of the best deals found on KAYAK recently from the most popular airlines for return flights from Cairns to South Island 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 South Island

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
$485Jetstar
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
$486Jetstar
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
$499Jetstar
Tue, 15 Sep - Mon, 21 Sep
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$514Jetstar
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
$682Multiple Airlines
Tue, 15 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
$689Multiple Airlines
Sun, 24 Jan - Wed, 17 Feb
Virgin Australia Logo
06:00 - 16:40
CNS
-
ZQN
7h 40m
1 stop
Virgin Australia Logo
17:30 - 23:05
ZQN
-
CNS
8h 35m
1 stop
$711Virgin Australia
Thu, 10 Sep - Thu, 17 Sep
Multiple Airlines Logo
19:10 - 13:30
CNS
-
ZQN
16h 20m
1 stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
10:25 - 10:40
ZQN
-
CNS
26h 15m
1 stop
$763Multiple Airlines
Sat, 5 Sep - Sat, 19 Sep
Virgin Australia Logo
13:40 - 16:45
CNS
-
ZQN
25h 05m
1 stop
Virgin Australia Logo
17:40 - 09:50
ZQN
-
CNS
18h 10m
1 stop
$764Virgin Australia
Fri, 11 Sep - Mon, 21 Sep
Virgin Australia Logo
19:15 - 12:20
CNS
-
ZQN
15h 05m
1 stop
Virgin Australia Logo
17:40 - 13:00
ZQN
-
CNS
21h 20m
1 stop
$768Virgin Australia
Booking Insights

KAYAK's insights & trends for Cairns to South Island flights

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

What is the cheapest Cairns to South Island flight route?

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

The cheapest ticket to South Island from Cairns found in the last 5 days was to Christchurch, at $430 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 $430.

Can I save money by flying with a stopover from Cairns to South Island?

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.

No, with an average price for the route of $1,240, prices are generally cheapest when you fly direct.

What is the cheapest month to fly from Cairns to South Island?

To calculate monthly average prices, KAYAK takes all prices for each month over the last year for round-trip flights from Cairns to South Island, 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 South Island is October, when tickets cost $423 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are July and August, when the average cost of return tickets is $891 and $740 respectively.

Good to know

Low season

July

Cheapest flight

$332
Best time to beat the crowds but there is an average 40% increase in price.
Most popular time to fly (9% more expensive on average)
Flight from Cairns to Christchurch

FAQs - booking South Island flights

  • How does KAYAK find such low prices on flights from Cairns to South Island?

    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 South Island.

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

    KAYAK’s flight Price Forecast tool uses historical data to determine whether the price for a flight from Cairns to South Island 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 South Island?

    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 South Island 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 South Island?

    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 South Island 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 South Island per day?

    There is a maximum of 1 direct flight a day that takes off from Cairns and lands in South Island, with an average flight time of 4h 55m. The most common departure time is 07:00 and most flights take off in the morning. Each week, there are 2 flights.

Top tips for finding cheap flights to South Island

  • Looking for a cheap flight? 25% of our users found tickets from Cairns to the following destinations at these prices or less: Christchurch $394 one-way - $430 round-trip

Reviews of the top airlines flying from Cairns to South Island

 
See real verified KAYAK customer reviews for airlines flying from Cairns to South Island. Airline scores are aggregated from all reviews left by passengers on KAYAK after flying with an airline. KAYAK doesn’t show reviews that are older than 5 years. Learn how KAYAK collects reviews.
Need help choosing which airline to fly with from Cairns to South Island? 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.
7.6
Virgin AustraliaOverall score based on 466 reviews
7.8Boarding
8.2Crew
7.5Comfort
6.4Food
6.4Entertainment
Airline reviews

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

10.0 Excellentglenn, Mar 2026
OOL - SYD
Read more Virgin Australia reviews

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.

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 to South Island

Information on your arrival and departure airports