$252 Find Cheap Flights from Cairns to South Island

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 23/4. 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

KAYAK searches hundreds of travel sites at once for deals on flights to South Island

 
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Cairns to South Island, as well as popular online travel agencies
These are the airlines KAYAK users have selected most often from within our search results in flight searches from Cairns to South Island, as well as popular online travel agencies
Travellers love KAYAK
41,299,237 searches in the past 7 days on KAYAK

Save 20% or moreCompare multiple travel sites with one search.

Track pricesNot ready to book? Create a price alert for when prices drop.

Free to useThere are no hidden charges or fees.

Filter your dealsChoose cabin class, free Wi-Fi and more.

Flight Deals
Booking Insights
Flight Deals

Cheap Flights from Cairns to South Island

Cheapest return prices found by our users on KAYAK in the last 72 hours
Queenstown
Queenstown1 stop$692
Christchurch
Christchurchdirect$417
Dunedin
Dunedin1 stop$822
Nelson
Nelson1 stop$836
Queenstown
Queenstown1 stop$692
Christchurch
Christchurchdirect$417
Dunedin
Dunedin1 stop$822
Nelson
Nelson1 stop$836

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

Tue, 5 May - Mon, 25 May
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$417Jetstar
Tue, 5 May - Mon, 18 May
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$425Jetstar
Thu, 23 Apr - Fri, 8 May
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$434Jetstar
Thu, 7 May - Mon, 25 May
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$438Jetstar
Thu, 7 May - Fri, 15 May
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$448Jetstar
Thu, 23 Apr - Fri, 8 May
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$470Jetstar
Tue, 2 Jun - Mon, 15 Jun
Jetstar Logo
07:00 - 13:55
CNS
-
CHC
4h 55mdirect
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$498Jetstar
Sat, 25 Apr - Fri, 8 May
Jetstar Logo
09:40 - 00:10
CNS
-
CHC
12h 30m
1 stop
Jetstar Logo
06:55 - 10:40
CHC
-
CNS
5h 45mdirect
$570Jetstar
Wed, 15 Jul - Wed, 22 Jul
Virgin Australia Logo
21:00 - 16:45
CNS
-
ZQN
17h 45m
1 stop
Virgin Australia Logo
17:40 - 09:50
ZQN
-
CNS
18h 10m
1 stop
$692Virgin Australia
Fri, 24 Apr - Fri, 1 May
Virgin Australia Logo
16:55 - 15:40
CNS
-
ZQN
20h 45m
1 stop
Virgin Australia Logo
17:40 - 09:50
ZQN
-
CNS
18h 10m
1 stop
$724Virgin 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 72 hours was to Christchurch, at $325 return. The most popular route is from Cairns (CNS) to Christchurch (CHC), and the cheapest round-trip airline ticket found on this route in the last 72 hours was $325.

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 $1,128, 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 January, when tickets cost $651 (return) on average. On the other hand, the most expensive months are February and December, when the average cost of return tickets is $1,082 and $908 respectively.

Good to know

Low seasonAugust
Cheapest flight$252
Best time to beat the crowds (7% less expensive on average)
Most popular time to fly (19% 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.

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 449 reviews
7.5Comfort
6.4Entertainment
7.7Boarding
6.4Food
8.2Crew
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.

Very friendly staff. No food service and no entertainment. Only 1hr 20min flight

High fees for excess checked baggage and somehow ridiculous rules for carry on bags.

Flight was late, food and drink an extra charge, my carry on is five rows behind me, and the seats are too narrow. Don’t ask me to be happy about it

I bought flights in August and there wasn’t a flight in the system

Our 6.30am flight was boarded then cancelled to fly at 10.55am . We were flying to Brisbane to attend a funeral at 12 noon an hour away . This means missing the funeral due to unreliability of Virgin . Unimpressed !!

It was with Link Airways and the Saab 340 jet was noisy and little comfort.

They didn’t sent my luggage I got it 24 hours later

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

Overall experience was good but what really impressed me the most was the care the flight attendants took of a sick passenger who was sitting in front of me. The flight attendants would come and check on her quite regularly providing her support and comfort. Brilliant service!

One of the better flights I’ve had w Jetstar. Smooth boarding, early take off, on time landing, very courteous crew, clean plane.

local frequent travellers know that Jetstar’s flights between MEL and LST are turnaround flights so those in the morning tend to run on time and become delayed increasingly through the day. We observed how the staff at check in and boarding try to assist, guide and facilitate travellers - they were courteous, efficient, amiable while enforcing Jetstar’s baggage requirements. They try to speed up boarding by having passengers board from both front and back. We would take Jetstar again.

The issue was a 4 hour delay to takeoff with very sketchy information provided about the available of the flights delay. Passengers were not informed of gate changes and how long the delay might be. It ended with a late night 2 hour drive to our home which was not ideal for elderly people.

Flight was fine with boarding starting a few minutes early. Not a fan of the crew pushing political messaging regarding indigenous naming of Brisbane city… really pushed it like I haven’t heard on Jetstar before.

The flight ticket were not reimbursed on Jan 22nd from Auckland to Wellington. Very Very dissatisfied.Please reimburse the ticket of my onward travel.

Improved experience over our last years flight when also we flew local but on an international scheduled flight. The double processing is still unwelcome i.e. by security and then by border force having to produce a licence and boarding pass repeatedly on departure and return. Obviously suits the airline rather than the local traveller. The flight and crew were good though a helper on return was offhand having to push the wheel chair did the bare minimum we felt.

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

Flight was delayed both directions but once in the air was ok. Boarding out of Melbourne is just a mess.

Although a local trip via international flight it was fairly straight forward albeit more checks than desirable for local travel. On arrival Perth collecting luggage the trollies were hidden in one end of the long hall.

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.

Everything you need to know for your flight to South Island

Information on your arrival and departure airports