This is Part 2 of the Great Barrier Airlines' profile. Part 1 can be found here:
http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/barrier-connection-great-barrier.html
The Early and Mid 1990s - Competition and Take Overs
In 1991 Murray Pope offered to sell 50 percent of Great Barrier Airlines back to Jim and Ruth Bergman and he returned as manager. Jim Bergman, writing on the history of GBA in NZ Aviation News, states that “when Sea Bee Air purchased GBA it brought its very efficient and excellent maintenance team and set up a base at Ardmore. Sea Bee Air under the new ownership arrangement continued to maintain our aircraft and we leased aircraft from them where applicable.”
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| Still in its Sea Bee Air yellow and white colour scheme Piper Aztec ZK-CEU was used, among other things, for towing drones for target practice for the Navy. Photo taken at Ardmore on 17 November 1990 by M Beaven |
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| The second attempt at a colour scheme - the orange and white scheme as seen on Piper Aztec ZK-FMU (above) photographed above at Nelson on 2 October 1990 by M Condon and on Britten Norman Islander ZK-FVD (immediately below) taken at Auckland on 30 January 1992 by S Lowe and on Piper Cherokee 6 ZK-CNS (far below) taken at Claris on 27 December 1992 by B Gavin |
From the late 1980’s Great Barrier Airlines had faced competition from both fast ferries and other aerial competitors. Gulf Air, Air National, Trans Island Air and Northern Air all tried to compete on the main Auckland-Great Barrier route but this aerial competition soon disappeared. While the fast ferries decimated air services to Waiheke Island they did not succeed to the same extent on the Barrier run and tended to operate a seasonal service. They were, however, a major threat especially when they were first introduced. To counter this threat Great Barrier Airlines made friends with the enemy, so to speak, and established a fly/boat scheme with the ferry operators offering visitors to the island a flight in one direction and the ferry in the other.
In 1991 the company started offering summer services to and from Great Barrier Island from Whangarei on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in addition to the Great Barrier Island-Tauranga and Coromandel services. Such flights, including flights to the Coromandel Peninsula, have become a feature of the Great Barrier Airlines’ summer timetable until recent times. Normally they have been operated by GBA’s smaller aircraft, though at times these services have been contracted out to other operators. Tower Aviation of Whangarei, for example, were operating Great Barrier Airline’s twice weekly service between Whangarei and Great Barrier Island in the year 2000.
Waiheke Island had been on Great Barrier Airlines’ radar for some time, however, the Stonyridge Airfield was closed to all operators other than the leaseholder, Motor Holdings, and commercial operations were not permitted from Reeve Airfield. On the 24th of July 1992 Motor Holdings sold their Waiheke Air Services operation to Flightline Aviation and soon after negotiations began to open the Stonyridge airfield to other users. In late October 1992 Flightline Aviation announced their air service to Waiheke Island would change to an on-demand service from the 2nd of November 1992 and that Stonyridge airfield would be available for other operators to use. Great Barrier Airlines immediately announced their intention to start flights to Waiheke. The Stonyridge airstrip proved, however, to be unsuitable and so Gulf Island Air was contracted to provide a link to Auckland and Great Barrier Island using their Piper Cherokee 180 and later a Piper Cherokee 6. (For more on Gulf Island Air see http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2011/09/gulf-island-air-transfer-flights-from.html)
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| Gulf News, 6 November 1992 |
In 1993 ownership of the company changed again with Great Barrier Airlines’ flight operations being leased back to Jim Bergman as a separate company while the parent company owned the aircraft and maintenance organisation. John King, in NZ Wings describes the complex changes of ownership by saying “the following year Jim bought half the operating company, which he sold in 1996 to Gerard Rea and Mark Roberts, while GBA Ltd also sold its aircraft to GB Air. Further restructuring and consolidation have seen ownership settle down into thirds, held by Gerard Rea, GBA Ltd (the original Sea Bee Air proprietors Colin Campbell, Murray Pope and Norm Sanson) and Mark Roberts and his extended family.” Subsequently ownership of Great Barrier Airlines is now mainly in the hands of Gerard Rea, with Mark Roberts being the other shareholder.
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| Leased BN Islander ZK-FXY was used in late 1993 to mid 1994. It is seen here at Hamilton on 20 October 1993. Photo : M Beaven |
In January 1994 Air Fiji leased Great Barrier Airlines a 19-seat de Havilland Canada Twin Otter, DQ-FDK, for the summer. The lease was a great success and the Twin Otter returned the following summer. Buoyed by their experience, in early 1995 the company decided to purchase their own Twin Otter. Having sourced an aircraft it departed mainland USA on the 16th of March 1995 on its ferry flight to Auckland via Hawaii. Some 740km northeast from Honolulu the crew experienced fuel transfer problems and ended up ditching. Fortunately a nearby ship rescued the 3 occupants. Undeterred the company subsequently purchased Twin Otter ZK-FQK from Royal Tongan Airlines.
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| The first, Twin Otter, Fijian registered DQ-FDK, during its first summer in operation from Air Fiji. Photo taken at Auckland on 22 May 1994 by M Beaven. |
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| Great Barrier Airline's own Twin Otter, ZK-FQK. This had previously been on the New Zealand register while being operated by Friendly Island Airways and Royal Tongan Airlines. It was then placed on the new Tongan register as A3-FQK where, as well as operating for Royal Tongan, it also operated for Air Fiji. It is seen here in Air Fiji colours at Auckland on 31 May 1996. Photo : S Lowe |
In the mid-1990s the company also introduced a charter operation using Brazilian-built Piper Chieftain, Embraer EMB-820C ZK-RDT and later, Piper Pa31 Navajo ZK-NSN.
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| The Brazilian built Chieftain, Embraer 820C ZK-RDT, when it carried small Great Barrier Airlines titles on its nose. Photo taken at Auckland on 31 May 1996. |
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| The later addition to the charter division, Piper Navajo ZK-NSN at the Wanaka Air Show on 22 April 2000. Photo : I Coates |
On the 26th of August 1994 Great Barrier Airlines finally began operating a full schedule to Waiheke Island in their own right using the Reeve Airfield which was finally made available for commercial operations. The service was short lived and was dropped by the 21st of April 1995, the airline citing the standard of the islands two airfields and competition from local operators, Gulf Island Air and Waiheke Air Services, as the reasons.
From the 1st of August 1995 the company rebanded itself as an "Island Air Shuttle" offering up to seven daily return flights to the island.
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| Barrier Bulletin, August 1995 |
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| Above, Britten Norman Islander ZK-FVD in the fourth attempt at a colour scheme at Auckland with "Air Shuttle" titles on the engine nacelles. Photo taken at Auckland on 31 May 1996 by S Lowe. Piper Cherokee 6 ZK-CNS was also painted in the scheme. It is seen wearing both Great Barrier Airlines and Air Coromandel titles at Auckland on 16 October 1998. Photo : S Lowe |
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| Great Barrier Timetable, August 1995 |
In the mid-1990s the company expanded by the purchase of three companies. In 1995 Air Coromandel, with its Cessna 172 and Partenavia as well as sole commercial rights to Whitianga, was bought from Les Sampson. "Whitianga has a great positive feeling and a potential that's undeveloped and still to be realised," says Mark. "It was a strategic move and tied up the centre of operations. We now operate to all the holiday destinations between Rotorua and the Bay of Islands in our route structure, and Whitianga is also a good base for training and pilot checks."
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| My one and only GBA baggage tag showing the merger with Air Coromandel... I bought on ebay from Estonia of all places!!! |
The following year, in October 1996, the company bought NZ Air Services which had started its North Shore-Claris service in 1993. The takeover included the purchase of their BN Islander ZK-WNZ and Piper Cherokee 6 ZK-ENZ. Then, in early 1997, the company also took over Waiheke Island’s Gulf Island Air. Great Barrier Airlines had had a long association with Gulf Island Air. When getting itself established it operated under GBA's air services licence. Traffic volumes had increased between Waiheke and Great Barrier Island so the take-over was seen as a timely.
In November 1996 the company extended their network to include flights to Rotorua and the Bay of Islands using Paihia's Hururu Falls airfield. Later the Paihia flights stopped at Whangarei or Dargaville on demand.
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| Great Barrier Airlines timetable, ca January 1997 |
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| NZ Herald, 20 November 1996 |
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