A win for Waikato, with international flights set to return from next year.
Jetstar's launching new routes from Hamilton to Sydney and the Gold Coast in June.
The city's been without trans-Tasman flights since 2012.
Hamilton Airport CEO Mark Morgan says the announcement's significant for the region's future.
"It places some credibility back into the mighty Waikato - and just positions us for opportunities that we would not have been able to consider without this current opportunity."
Jetstar's also launched a new route from Dunedin to the Gold Coast - the first international flights out of Otago since 2020.
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