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Bert Waghorn, an earthmoving contractor from Reefton, had learned to fly in a Cessna 150 with Nash Taurau's Westland Air at Greymouth in the early 1970s. Having completed his PPL he was able to fly to the North Island to pick up parts for broken down machinery, often saving up to a week for it to be delivered by normal means. To help facilitate this he bought a partnership in a Cessna 172. In April 1973 he and Frank Hallaran formed Coast Air Charter Ltd which in July 1973 took over Westland Air's air charter licence. In granting the licence the Air Services Licensing Authority said it was satisfied that a locally based air-charter service in the Hokitika area was valuable and in the public interest. Mr Tiller (the Chairman) said the applicant had to establish that the proposed service was financially viable. It had been estimated that the company could achieve between 400 and 450 flying hours annually at the rate of $25 per hour. “We think the proposal just meets the requirements of section 29, and the application is granted with a maximum charge rate of $30 per hour,” he said.
Bert Waghorn, one of the shareholders, said the aircraft the company proposed, to buy a Cessna Cardinal, was particularly suited to air-ambulance work, estimated to total about 200 hours a year. Catchment Board work was estimated at 30 hours, the N.Z.B.C. work as about 20 hours, scenic flights, 30 hours, and private charter, including flights to race meetings throughout the country, about 100 hours. There was every indication i the proposed West Coast beech forests scheme would lead to a demand for the charter service, said Mr Waghorn. He had been told by a forest ranger that 14 overseas firms were interested in the use of the forests. If this were the case, there would be a demand for aerial mapping and surveys. The pilot-manager of the company’s operations would be Mr N. Taurau, who previously operated Westland Air. Ltd.
Coming from Westland Air into the new Coast Air were a Cessna 172 ZK-CKN, which was soon sold, and newly purchased Cessna 177 Cardinal, ZK-DIH. In early October 1973 Coast Air advertised that it required urgently a competent commercial pilot who would be based at Greymouth. A feature of the aircraft was that it was fitted with stretcher capability and it was used extensively for air ambulance duties.
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| Coast Air's Cessna 177 Cardinal, ZK-DIH, at Greymouth in April 1975. Photo : A Wooller |
In February 1976 Jeff Rees moved to Hokitika as a resident instructor. This was the first time in several years that the West Coast had had a full time flying instructor. Bert Waghorn bought Cessna 172 ZK-DHQ in late 1976 and this was used by Coast Air for training and charter work until it was sold in late 1978. Jeff Rees covered the Hokitika, Greymouth and Reefton districts.
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| Cessna 172 ZK-DHQ operating for Coast Air at Hokitika in 1978 |
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| Greymouth Evening Star, 4 February 1976 |
In March 1976 Coast Air Charter applied to the Air Services Licensing Authority to add a Hiller UH-12E to its licence. Phil Metzer owned Alpine Enterprises Ltd and two of his helicopters were to be placed on Coast Air Charter's licence, the first being Hiller UH12E ZK-HDY (c/n 2274).
The following year, in April 1977, Coast Air Charter returned to the Air Services Licensing Authority to add either a Cessna 206 or Cessna 185 to its authorised fleet and to also add a Hughes 369 "500". The application was declined after an objection from Hokitika-based Westland Flying Services which operated a Piper PA32 Cherokee 6.
Meanwhile, in 1974, Vic Alborn began Airwest Maintenance, Ltd, an aircraft maintenance company in Hokitika. In mid-1977 Reefton-born Vic took a shareholding in Coast Air Charter which had established a training base in Hokitika for pilots. The Press reported the demand for pilot training is such that trainees are coming from as far north as Reefton and as far south as Franz Josef. Coast Air Charter are involved in charter work and scenic flying by plane and helicopter. The company is also called upon by the Lands and Survey and Forestry Departments. Together, Coast Air Charter and Airwest Maintenance are planning to provide an increasing scope of services based on Hokitika, covering all aspects of aviation. Vic is a licensed engineer and his assistant, a commercial pilot, also is trained as an engineer and fills in as a spare pilot. Airwest Maintenance is also involved in salvage work of planes and helicopters.
Following the first cessation of Capital Air Services' flights on the 29th of June 1977 Coast Air Charter applied for a temporary licence to transport passengers, on demand, between Greymouth and Christchurch. The Air Services Licensing Authority declined the application. On the 16th of July the Press reported, a director of Coast Air Charter, Mr John Royds, said today that no reason had been given for the refusal. However, he said that it will not affect the normal operation of the company, which can still charter planes on request. This first interest in operating a more regular air service was a portent for the rise and ultimately fall of Coast Air.
In November 1977 Coast Air Charter returned to the Air Services Licensing Authority seeking to add one Cessna 207 aircraft (6 passengers) to their fleet. This time their application was successful and Cessna 207 Skywagon ZK-EJD arrived in Greymouth in February 1978. Coast Air's fleet changed dramatically in 1978. The air charter and training fleet grew with the addition of Cessna 172 ZK-EKF in March 1978. This aircraft was only in the fleet a short time as it was destroyed at Greymouth on the 23rd of July 1978 when it was blown over by a wind gust. Cessna 172 ZK-DHQ was sold in November 1978 being replaced with a newer Cessna 172, ZK-ELH the following month. Also joining the fleet in December 1978 was Cessna A152 Aerobat ZK-ELC which was registered to the Reefton Aero Club but was used by Coast Air.
A profile of Bert Waghorn in the Christchurch Press in June 1978 gave an insight into Coast Air's operations at the time. Now Waghorn is the head of two air charter companies which have loosely combined for the benefit of both — they are Coast Air Charter and Alpine Enterprises. The other five directors are Messrs M. J. Rosanowski, P. Melzer, I Wilson, J. Royds and V. Alborn. All the men are locals, some of them born in Reefton, except for Phil Melzer who flies the company’s helicopter, a three-seater Hiller 12E, and is a former American army helicopter pilot. He now specialises in live deer recovery. Melzer was also a Hughes Corporation test-pilot. Another specialist in the team is Vic Alborn who does all the day-to-day maintenance on the firm’s planes. He is a fully-qualified aircraft engineer and one of the few men in New Zealand who is qualified to assemble helicopters. Coast Air and associates have four fixed-wing planes, all Cessnas, one seven-seater and three four-seaters. They have three full-time pilots and are the only commercial helicopter company, of the four operating in Westland, to have fixed-wing planes in their fleet as well. The main bases for the aircraft are at Hokitika and Reefton, with less activity at Greymouth and Westport. The company use the commercial airports in these places, and as well, Bert Waghorn has his own strip at Cronadun (Reefton) and a helicopter pad beside the Inangahua River at Reefton. The activities of the combined companies are many and varied. Company pilots pick up safari passengers at both Christchurch and Auckland airports, and their clients include tourists, mountaineers, hunters and fishermen. Coast Air fly Lands and Survey Department staff on aerial photography trips, in planes that have special camera hatches for vertical shots, and position huts and do food drops for the Forestry Service. Coast Air is obviously going places and taking a lot of satisfied passengers with them. Their biggest customer is the West Coast Hospital Board. Two hundred patients are ferried over the Alps every year in planes specially equipped for the job, at half the cost of an ambulance. They do the trip in three quarters of an hour. This air-ambulance section of Coast Air operates all over New Zealand. In the future, says Waghorn, the company hopes to buy a $150,000 jet-helicopter for hunting safaris. The need is already there. “Our company is fully Coast-owned and operated,” he says. “We are here to develop the area, using Coast money and initiative.”
In August 1978 Coast Air Charter applied to replace the Hiller UH12E that Alpine Enterprises Ltd operated with a 'jet-helicopter' Hughes 500. Hughes 500C ZK-HMQ was registered to Alpine Enterprises Ltd in December 1978.
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| Cessna 172 ZK-ELH at Hokitika in January 1980 |
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| Cessna 207 ZK-EJD at Greymouth on 25 November 1984. |
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Cessna 152 Aerobat ZK-ELC at Greymouth in 1981
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A West Coast feature in the Press on the 14th of June 1979 reported on Coast Air Charter's fixed winged and helicopter tourist options... Helicopter flying is hard to beat on the West Coast. It is an experience fatally different from any other. Perched on the brink, the sight of tree tops disappearing at your feet, a ribbon of coastline, a rocky gorge, gold excavations, the scars of another State forest road, a town, a lake, more bush — all the way to Hokitika. I guess the beauty of it all is that the pilot is in control and there is nothing for you to do but. gaze out through the wide window dome at the panoramic view all round. The Coast Air Group operates a wide variety of popular tourist and recreational trips on a charter basis up and down the West Coast. Coast Air Charter, Limited, a member of the group, operates fixed-wing planes from airport bases at Greymouth and Hokitika, incorporating in many of its tours the useof a Hughes 500 helicopter for more mountainous areas. The helicopter belongs to Alpine Enterprises, Limited, another member of the group based in Reefton. The fixed-wing planes range from a Cessna 152 aerobat flying trainer to a seven seated Cessna 207 Skywagon which is used for ambulance work, aerial photography, tourist trips and freight. Tourist trips in the area include flights to Lake Brunner and the gold mines in Reefton, the alpine areas in the Mount Whitcombe area for views of the glaciers. For flights of approximately one hour and thirty minutes to forty-five minutes return the vicinity between Greymouth and Mount Cook is popular. Other areas for flights include Franz Josef or the Fox Glacier, Milford Sound, Queenstown, Manapouri, Karamea, and the Heaphy Track. Some climbing enthusiasts are delivers and the Copland Pass landing if requested. The company also works in with a safari company, Wildlife Enterprises, in Christchurch picking up overseas parties of tourists for a week or more and flying them into Reefton or Hokitika where they transfer to the Alpine Enterprises Hughes 500 helicopter for fishing, hunting and photography expeditions. The helicopter has been installed with a Helicopter Stretcher Kit, specially designed by the Howard Hughes Corporation. This will enable the pilot Phil Melzer, to be fully equipped for Search and Rescue operations in the mountains and bush. Two stretchers can now be fitted in the rear compartment of the helicopter and it is the only Hughes 500 in New Zealand with the ambulance equipment.
In September 1980 Air New Zealand announced a proposal to reduce its flights between Westport and Wellington and to cut completely its flights between Westport and Hokitika thereby cutting the connection between Westport and Christchurch. In December 1979 Westland Flying Services had introduced a Cessna 402 service from Hokitika and Greymouth to Christchurch twice a day, three days a week. In the light of the Air New Zealand proposal Coast Air Charter announced plans to start daily feeder services to Westport. The company announced that after the arrival in Greymouth of the morning Westland Flying Services flights from Christchurch a Coast Air plane would fly passengers to Westport. The same aircraft would later in the day fly a return service between Westport and Hokitika to connect with the Air New Zealand flight to and from Christchurch at Hokitika. The plane would then fly back from Westport to Greymouth to connect with the Westland Flying Services flight to Christchurch. As things transpired the revised Air New Zealand service saw Westport linked to both Wellington and Christchurch via Hokitika on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays. Coast Air Charter did offer a feeder “air taxi” service linking Westport with the national airline on the other days of the week. There was, however, little interest in the service, the people of Buller being more interested in the reinstatement of a daily Air New Zealand service.
The company’s next attempt to establish a scheduled service was in December 1983 when the company applied to Air Services Licensing Authority to operate a scheduled air service between Christchurch and Greymouth with a De Havilland Canada Twin Otter. John Royds, managing director of Coast Air Charter, was reported in the Press on the 14th of December saying, at present passengers flying into Greymouth had to stay overnight. “We hope to be able to get passengers in and out in the same day. Also, our flights will be timed to connect with departures to other centres,” he said. Mr Royds said that freight would be an important part of the business, especially material that had to be transported quickly. Timetables and fares have not been established but the price of seats is expected to be similar to that charged by Air New Zealand. Mr Royds said that it was hoped to install lighting at Greymouth Airport and this would allow for the later arrival of flights during winter. The company is negotiating to buy a De Havilland which is in service in the Yukon, in the far north of, Canada. Mr Royds said that the company selected the De Havilland because of its versatility and outstanding record.
At the hearing on the 21st of December 1983 the Authority was satisfied that the proposed service was necessary and desirable, it was not satisfied that the company had the financial ability to run the service. The Press reported on the 23rd that the Authority had earlier been told by a private chartered accountant acting for Coast Air Charter, Mr P. T. Heaphy, that it was intended to float a public company with a shareholding of $1 million. The Westpac Bank had also agreed to put up a further $1 million, Mr Heaphy said, but this depended on the company raising its share of the capital, the cash flow, and security offered. Mr Heaphy said he had had discussions with a merchant bank in Wellington and with a big public company which was prepared to become ana investor. He provided the names of these companies to the Authority in confidence, as negotiations had not yet been finalised. He said the merchant bank would be prepared to underwrite the company. A balance of Greymouth and outside shareholding was expected to be 50;50, Mr Heaphy said, and he expected strong interest from the West Coast.
The company is proposing to offer two return flights across the South Island daily, Monday to Friday, and one return service on Saturdays and Sundays. Mr Ellis called a number of witnesses who said that they were inconvenienced by the timetabling of the present flights which meant that it was not possible to travel from the coast to Christchurch and back in the say day, or to travel through Christchurch to other centres and arrive there in time to do business the same day.
The aircraft proposed for the service was at present in service in Canada. It was a 1980 model but would be fitted with new engines. A $l0,000 holding deposit had been placed on the aircraft, Mr Heaphy said. The managing director of Coast Air Charter, Mr J. E. Royds, said the idea for the service had first been proposed when it was feared Air New Zealand might cut some provincial routes, though this had not been the case. The company’s chief pilot, Mr R. B. Riddell, said that the company would be putting $l0,000 towards runway lighting and a wind sock at Greymouth airfield.
The hearing was adjourned to the 22nd of February and in this time the company set itself to furnishing the evidence. However, in the interim, new legislation in the form of the Air Services Licensing Act of 1983 had come into force. This meant that Coast Air Charter had to replace its existing charter licence by the 31st of March 1984.
However, the resumed hearing on the 22nd of February 1984 was cancelled on legal advice from the Solicitor General. The Press reported, Last year new legislation - the Air Services Licensing Act, 1983 - came into force on November 30 and the former Authority, which had sat under the Air Services Licensing Act, 1951, ceased to exist. There was provision in the new legislation for the old Authority to continue for one more month, to clean up outstanding business, and this it had tried to do for Coast Air Charter at its December hearing. When its hearing had had to be adjourned to February, the Ministry of Transport had asked the Solicitor General, Mr D. P. Neazor, for a ruling on whether a February hearing would have any standing. Mr Neazor has now ruled that in terms of the Acts Interpretation Act, 1924, it could not - and so the hearing was cancelled.
The firm's problems have been compounded by changes in the new legislation on the type of licence which may be issued. Coast Air Charter must replace its existing charter licence by March 31, 1984, or go out of the charter business. In the new legislation, it would get as a replacement licence a category C licence, for up to 2500kg take-off weight. But in its application for licence to charter from Christchurch to Greymouth it had said it would use a Twin Otter aircraft. To fly this for charter it would need a B licence between 2500kg and 7000kg. It cannot secure a B licence by renewing its existing licence. Life was made more difficult for the firm by the changes that occurred to the new legislation as it passed through Parliament last year. The first draft of the legislation had only two categories, with the B category simply being up to 7000kg; and so enabling Coast Air Charter to qualify for the Twin Otter under its existing licence. But, in its final form, the new legislation had three categories, and the one held by Coast Air Charter was no longer suitable for a Twin Otter.
The Ministry said the firm had found out only a day before the Authority went out of existence that its licence could not be transferred forward at March 31 to qualify it to charter a Twin Otter. To overcome the problem, the Authority had agreed to hear the application in December, but had not been able to complete its hearing. Under the new legislation, a new Authority will be formed after April 1. Its members are not yet known. The Ministry has told the firm it has three choices open to it in theory: The new Authority may decide, or be advised, that it has the power to continue the hearing adjourned by the old Authority. The firm may apply for and secure a new C licence by March 31, so it can stay in the charter business in the meantime, and apply as well for a temporary licence. The firm may apply for a B licence to replace its C licence after March 31, but the new Authority would need at least six weeks to hear and approve any application and the firm would be out of business until that new application was granted. The Ministry of Transport expects the firm to choose the second option, but the legal situation is still far from clear.
In July 1985 Coast Air Charter Limited successfully returned to the Air Services Licensing Authority seeking to conduct a Category “B” air transport service between Greymouth and Christchurch and return with a fleet of one De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, one Cessna 207, one Cessna 185, one Cessna 177, two Cessna 172s and one Hughes 369C. Coast Air had earlier received approval to operate Bert Waghorn's Cessna A185F Skywagon ZK-DPG as part of its authorised fleet. The two Cessna 172s being used at this time were ZK-EHO, which had been in use since February 1983, and ZK-DFY, which was owned by Bert Waghorn. ZK-DFY was used to replace Cessna 172 ZK-ELH which was damaged in an incident in the Rail Valley on the 12th of March 1984. The Cessna 152 Aerobat, ZK-ELC had departed from the fleet, having been sold to the North Otago Aero Club in May 1982.
In August 1985 the company obtained the necessary licence and had raised the capital for the hire-purchase of a De Havilland Canada Twin Otter. At this stage the company hoped to start services in mid-October with twice daily return service between Greymouth and Christchurch on weekdays with a single return flight on Saturdays and Sundays. The company also planned a southern service from Greymouth to Franz Josef and Mount Cook to increase the aircraft's utilisation between the morning and late afternoon trans-alpine services and it was envisage this would form an attractive connection and compliment to the Trans-Alpine Express train service to Greymouth. The aircraft was also to be available for private charter and for contract freight flights. The Mayor of Greymouth, Dr Barry Dallas, the Press, "The present enterprise has been thoroughly researched and has a healthy financial backing. "The timetables will enable Coasters to do same day business in either Auckland or Invercargill. "Throughout New Zealand, aviation has boomed at this level since deregulation and it is only timely that the Coast should now be in on the benefits."
The October start up date was pushed back into December due to delays in sourcing a Twin Otter. On the 22nd of November 1985 a US-registered De Havilland
Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter, N250CM (c/n
250), arrived in Ashburton for Coast Air. This particular aircraft began life in 1969 as CF-JCS being operated by Northward Aviation Ltd of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. In 1976 it was sold to another Edmonton operator, Gateway Aviation Ltd, it registration changing to C-FJCS in 1979 before being sold in Alaska. It took up the US registration N250CM on the 26th of October 1979 being registered to Puget
Sound Tug & Barge, Anchorage, Alaska. In June 1982 Crowley Maritime of Anchorage started operating Crowley Maritime obtained it in 1979 and used it for supplying their operations on the Alaskan North Slope oilfields as well as flying ice flow patrols for shipping until late 1985 when it was exported to New Zealand. Canadian pilot Jim York flew it on its five day ferry flight from Anchorage to Oakland, California. Then, loaded down with eight ferry tanks taking up interior space normally used for 14 seats, York flew it via Honolulu, Honolulu, Pago Pago and Auckland to Ashburton. Plans to land in Greymouth were scotched by poor weather. In Ashburton local aircraft maintenance facility Ashburton Aviation Services refitted it in its passenger configuration and prepared it for its New Zealand certificate of air worthiness ahead of pilot and route training. It was placed on the New Zealand register as ZK-OTR on the 11th of December 1985.
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| The De Havilland Canada Twin Otter in its American registration the day after it arrived in New Zealand at Ashburton on 23 November 1985. |
The company, meanwhile, was preparing to launch the service on the 9th of December 1985. The airline proposed a twice daily Greymouth to Christchurch return weekday service with a single return flight on Saturdays and Sundays. Plans for a Greymouth-Glaciers-Mount Cook service were put on hold due to the Franz Josef airstrip being washed out by a flood in December 1984 and the lack of progress on a replacement aerodrome. Single adult fares were to cost $69 with children under 14 half price. The company also envisaged a door-to-door freight courier service.
Once again, however, problems beset the company. They rescheduled their start date to the 9th of January 1986 but then the Civil Aviation division of the Ministry of Transport announced the airline did not have the air service certificate which allowed it to fly the Twin Otter commercially. Civil Aviation also said the Category B air transport licence was also in abeyance while waiting for the difficulty over the air service certificate "to be sorted out." The situation was further complicated by the sudden resignation of Coast Air's chief captain, Captain Fred Holtkamp. The planned inaugural trans-alpine flight was cancelled and the 20 special guests who were to take the VIP flight to Christchurch made do by enjoying a short scenic flight.
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The Press, 10 January 1986
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Coast Air's scheduled air service finally got airborne on the 17th of January 1986 when the Twin Otter, named “The Province of Westland”, departed Greymouth for Christchurch at 7.00am under the command of Captain Phil Cooper. The return flight arrived back in Greymouth at 9.15am. The afternoon service left Greymouth at 4.40pm, returning at 6.30pm.
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DHC Twin Otter ZK-OTR at home at Greymouth on 23 February 1986.
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| The original timetable for the service that began on 17 January 1986 |
In the week following the first flight Les Bloxham, the travel editor, of the Christchurch Press reviewed the service...
Coast Air, Flight No. 12 Christchurch to Greymouth.
Wednesday, January 22.
Scheduled departure: 8.30 a.m.
Actual departure: 8.31 a.m.
Est. flight time: 45 min.
Actual flight time: 54 min.
Seating capacity: 20.
Seats filled: 4.
Check-in procedures, handled by Newmans Air, were done efficiently and in a friendly manner. A boarding call was made at 8.23 a.m. and passengers were directed to the de Havilland Twin Otter parked at Gate 2. The aircraft has 20 seats made up of five rows of one plus two, one row of two seats, and a row of three at the rear. The seats are basic and narrow with limited leg room, but they are adequate for such short duration flights. (Incidentally, the best seats as far as plenty of space is concerned are the three at the rear.) Passengers were personally welcomed on board by one of the pilots who also gave the safety briefing. Biscuits with pate and packets of fruit juice were available on a self-help basis. As a non-smoker in a relatively confined area I was pleased by the prohibition on smoking for the duration of the flight. Smokers unable to survive without lighting up for 45 minutes might not be so happy. The noise level was tolerable - in fact, this Otter was a lot quieter than others I have flown in around Fiji and Canada. Twenty-five minutes after take-off we were at an altitude of 10,000ft and crossing the Main Divide slightly to the south of Arthur's Pass at 170 knots (183 miles an· hour). Ten minutes later we were overhead Hokitika. (A dense layer of cloud on the West Coast forced the pilots to use I.F.R. (instrument flight rules) procedures and to home in on the Hokitika beacon before starting their let-down along the coast to Greymouth.) We landed on Greymouth's sealed strip at 9.25 a.m. The flight was smooth and pleasant. In clear weather a feature of this service will be the magnificent mountain scenery flown over at comparatively low altitudes. Unfortunately, viewing is impaired at present by the badly crazed and scratched state of most of the windows. Shooting satisfactory photographs would be impossible. (I was told later that Coast Air is considering replacing the damaged panes with new glass.) Over all, this new link between Greymouth and Christchurch should prove popular with businessmen and tourists alike. Having spent four hours driving the route through Arthur's Pass the previous week, I am now in no doubt about the way I will prefer to go in future.
I only flew on the Twin Otter once... it was, apparently, the first time it had had a full load. The aircraft took an hour flying into a punchy nor-wester with the plane letting down on the Hokitika beacon before flying VFR up the coast to Greymouth. Nowadays Greymouth has a GPS approach.
The airline was keen for more work for the Twin Otter during the middle of the day and it was approached by Timaru interests who wanted a direct air service to Christchurch. On the 26th of March 1986 Coast Air announced that a new service would be commenced linking Christchurch and Timaru. It was also announced that during winter the Twin Otter would be based at Christchurch instead of at Greymouth. As Greymouth Airport did not have landing lights the first flight was to be timed to reach Greymouth just after daybreak. The aircraft would then return to Christchurch with passengers and be available for flights to and from Timaru before the afternoon flight to Greymouth and return Christchurch.
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| The Press, April 1986 |
Coast Air began its winter schedule on the 21st of April 1986. The basing of the Twin Otter in Christchurch and the addition of the Timaru service meant several compromises had to be made. With a 7.15am from Christchurch for Greymouth the new timetable meant business people from Auckland or Wellington couldn't connect with the morning Coast Air service to Greymouth. The return flight to Christchurch did not arrive back until 9.15am and this meant there was not a lot of time for business people to fly to Auckland or Wellington for a same day return. In the same way the Timaru flights were not scheduled well. The first flight left Christchurch at 10.50am and the afternoon flight at 2.35pm and these times did not suit business people going in either direction.
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| Coast Air's first flight to Timaru on the 21st of April 1986. Source : The Press |
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| The winter timetable with Timaru flights, effective 21 April 1986 |
The Timaru timetable was not popular and failed to generate enough traffic. One week had only six passengers and the inevitable happened on the 28th of May when Coast Air's Christchurch-Timaru service was discontinued.
Following the short-lived Timaru service the company Air looked to Nelson and at the end of June 1986 a new twice Christchurch-Nelson service was announced. The company’s’ director, Mr Bert Waghorn, told the Greymouth Evening Star that "Coast Air's east-west flights were doing well but the company was still making a loss. He noted that that Air Albatross had been making five return trips a day between Nelson and Christchurch with an 82 per cent load factor before it went into receivership. All we need is 50 per cent to make a profit."
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| The Press, 8 July 1986 |
Coast Air’s Twin Otter service between Nelson and Christchurch, which had to compete with Air New Zealand’s Friendship service and Goldfield’s Air Piper Navajo service, began on the 21st of July 1986. The Twin Otter was based at Nelson with southbound flights leaving Nelson at 7.20am and 2.20pm with northbound flights leaving Christchurch at 11.20am and 6.20pm. The Twin Otter was not fast, with a scheduled flight time of 75 minutes as opposed to 50 minutes in the Friendship. The Christchurch-Nelson link also necessitated changes in the timetable for the Greymouth flights. These now left Christchurch at 8.55 a.m. and 4.00pm and from Greymouth at 10.05am and 5.10pm, times that were not so suitable for business people travelling from the West Coast.
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| Coast Air timetable, effective 21 July 1986 |
Within days of Coast Air commencing on the Nelson-Christchurch route Goldfields Air ceased. This, however, did not improve the economics of the Twin Otter operation. The Twin Otter's STOL performance was ideal for operating in and out of Greymouth’s short runway but in all other respects it was the wrong aircraft. It’s fixed undercarriage made it slow and it's lack of pressurisation on both routes made it an undesirable option for the travelling public. With the aircraft Nelson-based, the timetable to Greymouth didn't suit local business traffic. Despite the best efforts of Coast Air the airline averaged only 7.6 the passenger per flight resulting in incurred losses of around $1 million. A major rethink was called for and the decision was made to replace the Twin Otter. Its last scheduled flights were flown on the 24th of December 1986 under the command of Captain Bruce Riddell and First Officer M Clarkin flying the afternoon Nelson-Christchurch-Greymouth-Christchurch Nelson service. After Christmas the Twin Otter positioned to Ashburton where it was prepared for sale and eventual departure for Vanuatu.
Coast Air decided to replace the Twin Otter with a leased eight-seat Piper Navajo, ZK-JGA, which Goldfields Air had previously operated.
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Piper Pa31-310 Navajo at Greymouth on 21 December 1986.
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The Navajo, like the Twin Otter, was based in Nelson and operated a Nelson-Christchurch-Greymouth return service both in the morning and in the afternoon/evening. However an air war was brewing. In early March 1987 Pacifica Air announced its intention to introduce flights between Nelson and Christchurch with a pressurised Beech Super King and this caused Air New Zealand to ramp up its flights between Nelson and Christchurch. Coast Air was the first casualty of this air war and cut its Nelson-Christchurch service with the last flights being flown on the 27th of March 1987.
Coast Air's decision to concentrate on its Christchurch-Greymouth link was essentially a good one but the airline still didn't get it quite right. The Navajo was based in Christchurch and from the 30th of March offered three flights each weekday across the alps to Greymouth. The first flight out of Christchurch was at 7.30am which didn't enable business people from Wellington or Auckland to connect with the morning service to the Coast. The earlier departure out of Greymouth offered better connections for West Coasters but it was still not as good as when the Twin Otter was based in Greymouth.
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Timetable as at 30 March 1987
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Further changes were made to the company during April 1987. The directors and officers of the company resigned and Hokitika businessman Bruce Smith of Como Holdings was appointed managing director to oversee the financial reconstruction of the company. Pilot numbers were reduced by one, the office manager, Mr Harry Kitchin, who had been with the company since its inception, was made redundant, and the mid-day service was dropped in an endeavour to cut costs.
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| Timetable as at 1 May 1987 |
The company continued to incur financial difficulties and on the 29th of February 1988 the Greymouth Evening Star carried the headline “Coast Air Still Flying Despite Suggestion it Might Cease” and detailed the necessity for massive fixed and working capital investment in the airline. At the end of March Como Holdings, itself facing financial difficulties, announced it was going to reclaim and sell the Piper Navajo aircraft it had been leasing to the airline for the past 14 months. In the light of this an announcement was made that the airline was to cease operations on the 15th of April with the directors expecting to incur a loss of some $750,000.
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| A few days before the air service ended... ZK-JGA departs Greymouth on 14 October 1988. Notice the changed titling. |
Despite being placed in receivership Coast Air had actually been operating as a viable concern for the previous 12 months. With this in mind the receivers set to relaunch Coast Air and services recommenced on the 2nd of May 1988. Once again the airline used Navajo ZK-JGA, leasing it from its new owner Air Nelson. Fares increased by 18 percent and instead of two full-time pilots, the new operation had one full-time and one part-time pilot.
However, having seemingly weathered one problem another was soon to arise when Air New Zealand announced on the 16th of September 1988 that its Friendship service from Hokitika to Christchurch and Westport and Wellington would be withdrawn and replaced with a Metroliner flying three daily return flights between Hokitika and Christchurch. Some of these were to operate at similar times to the Coast Air flights from nearby Greymouth. This was the final straw and an announcement made that Coast Air was going to cease trading on the 31st of October.
However, the final flights between Greymouth and Christchurch were operated on the 17th of October 1988 due to a lack of patronage. Brian Devlin, speaking for the receivers for the company, Devlin and Wilding Ltd, told the Greymouth Evening Star on the 17th, “As receivers we said the service would finish on or before October 31 but bookings have been exceptionally light so we see no sense in continuing. If we allowed the flights to continue we would be jeopardising any advantages gained during the receivership period.”
Aircraft Operated
Cessna A152 Aerobat
ZK-ELC - c/n A1520787
Cessna 172
ZK-CKN - c/n 17252194
ZK-DFY - c/n 17260735
ZK-DHQ - c/n 17261103
ZK-ELH - c/n 17270955
ZK-EKF - c/n 17269923
ZK-EHO - c/n 17269668
Cessna 177B Cardinal
ZK-DIH - c/n 17701900
Cessna A185F Skywagon
ZK-DPG - c/n 18502427
Cessna 207 Skywagon
ZK-EJD - c/n 20700362
De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter
ZK-OTR - c/n 250
Piper PA-31-310 Navajo C
ZK-JGA - c/n 31-7612102
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