Air New Zealand is to begin direct flights between Sydney, Australia and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands next year.
The Cook Islands Tourism Minister Robert Wigmore says Cabinet has approved a financial guarantee for Air New Zealand to operate flights during a trial period of July to October next year.
A statement by the Ministry of Tourism says the plans have been on the Cook Islands Tourism agenda for quite some time and the ministry hopes this will generate visitor growth from the Australian market.
It says the authorities hope the flight becomes commercially viable and will open up the possibility of agricultural goods including fresh fish to be freighted to Australia every week.
