A look at the Cook Strait commuters... Golden Bay Air...

The Nelson Evening Mail had an interesting article about Cook Strait commuters, the regular passengers who fly the "Nelly-Welly" route... The full article can be found at...

 

 

 

This is the piece that focuses on Golden Bay Air... http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/7908023/Long-commute-no-deterrent

 

Golden Bay Air co-director Lisa Sheppard set up an air service between Takaka and Wellington with her partner, Richard Molloy, six years ago, so when the time came to return to corporate life, she could do just that. Ms Sheppard, who moved to Takaka when her 6-year-old was born, starts her new job as the Civil Aviation Authority's principal policy adviser in Wellington this week. "There are no jobs like that in Golden Bay. Having the air service is pretty much what allowed me to do it. I need to be able to get home and over to Wellington quickly," she said. And the commuters come the other way too…

 

Golden Bay Air has about 100 commuting passengers, which Ms Sheppard said made up the bulk of its business. "The majority of them have contract work, and they might go two or three days a week. There are more and more people realising they can base themselves in a paradise like Golden Bay and still have a working life in the city," Ms Sheppard said. The air service went year-round with its first winter season last year, and regular passengers were offered discounts for the 50-minute flight to Wellington, with prices ranging from $129 to $189 per trip…

 

Golden Bay Air co-director Lisa Sheppard starts her new job as the Civil Aviation Authority's principal policy adviser in Wellington this week, and so begins her commuting lifestyle. Ms Sheppard and her partner Richard Molloy, both with private pilot's licences, set up an air service between Takaka and Wellington six years ago. They moved to Golden Bay for lifestyle reasons, with a 2-year-old and a newborn. "We owned a small plane and we took a day trip flying over Takaka [from Wellington] seven or eight years ago, and we wondered why nobody was running an air service," said Ms Sheppard. Mr Molloy will continue to run Golden Bay Air, while Ms Sheppard gets back into the corporate world. "The CAA is boosting its policy expertise. The team is growing, so my first job will be to help develop the policy team. I think if I didn't go back now, it would start to get a lot harder," she said. Ms Sheppard said she would not have been able to go for the job without the air service she and Mr Molloy set up. "I don't think many people create their own air service, just so they can commute to Wellington. "It [Golden Bay] is just such an amazing place to live. It's worth the sacrifice."