Mount Cook Airlines' Sunbird Service to Kerikeri

UPDATED April 2026

By the early 1970s Mount Cook Airlines was keen to promote the Bay of Islands’ tourist potential. The company introduced an amphibian air service between Auckland and Paihia on the 4th of November 1972 using a Grumman Goose. But even at this time Mount Cook Airlines was actively seeking to add the Bay of Islands to its Hawker Siddeley 748 network. The company felt the construction of a new airport was a Government responsibility, nevertheless it was prepared to construct one itself, as it had previously done at Mount Cook, Pukaki and Manapouri. 

Ironically it was an air accident on the 11th of October 1974 in Wichita, Kansas, that advanced Mount Cook Airlines’ aspirations to extend its services to the Bay of Islands. On delivery to the company was a second Grumman Goose which was to be initially used to replace the existing Grumman Goose on the Auckland-Paihia service while it was on major overhaul and later to replace one of the smaller and uneconomic Grumman Widgeons. With the new Goose destroyed in the United States Mount Cook Airlines found itself desperately short of capacity. On the 16th of October the Press reported that Mount Cook Airlines has not decided on a replacement yet for its second Grumman Goose amphibian aircraft. The manager of Mt Cook Airlines light-aircraft division (Mr D. W. Davies) said a cost study was already being done on a replacement aircraft, but this would not be another Grumman Goose because that aircraft was in short supply, he said. It would more likely be another Britten-Norman Islander, of which the airline has three in service in Queenstown and another two on order for use at Mount Cook. .

At this stage Mount Cook Airlines had three Britten Norman Islanders in service, the original two, ZK-DBV and ZK-DBW, and ZK-MCB which had arrived earlier in 1974 and was being trialled for ski-plane operations. With the decision to replace the ill-fated Grumman Goose with an Islander the applied to operate a new service between Auckland and Kerikeri making use of a local topdressing air strip.

Mount Cook Airlines' Auckland to Kerikeri service started on the 9th of December 1974 with four flights a day were operated to and from Kerikeri with a lesser schedule over the winter.  Meanwhile an additional Britten Norman Islander was hastily ordered and ZK-MCC (c/n 395) duly arrived in New Zealand on the 31st of December 1974. The Islander was flown to Auckland on the 11th of January 1975 and put to work on non-scheduled flights from Auckland to Kerikeri.  

Mount Cook Airlines' inaugural schedule to Kerikeri, effective 9 December 1974

The following summer the Islander service to Kerikeri was again boosted to four daily BN Islander flights, giving a total of 252 seats each way every week. Meanwhile, negotiations between Mount Cook Airlines and the Government were progressing. In launching the expanded Islander service John Ward, the northern regional manager, expressed his confidence that Kerikeri airfield would be upgraded Hawker-Siddeley standard by the following year. He told the Northern News his company's plan was to provide an early morning flight from Auckland to the Bay of Islands which would return to Auckland and on the southern tourist destinations. Similarly there would be a late evening flight from the south through Auckland to the Bay of Islands which would then return to Auckland giving a total of 672 seats each way every week.

Mount Cook Airlines' first timetable to Kerikeri, supposedly effective from 9 December 1974.

Timetable effective, 1 November 1975. Northern News, 5 February 1976

The initial Mount Cook Airlines service into Kerikeri was somewhat primitive as described by Ross Dunlop in the November 1976 issue of Wings... Mount Cook Airlines service into Northland is almost wholly directed towards the tourist, in keeping with the overall direction of the Mount Cook company. Those tourists flying the Islander from Auckland to Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands are mostly Australians and Americans. With the disposal of its amphibian aircraft to the recently-established Sea Bee Air Ltd, the Islander is now Mount Cook's only Auckland-based aircraft. Flown by the airline's local operations manager Bruce Packer a long time MCA identity in Auckland and his off-sider Warren Dwight, it was introduced nearly two years ago... 

Initially, non-scheduled services were flown to both Kerikeri and Great Barrier Island, but at the end of last month the daily service to the Barrier was dropped because of lack of patronage and it is now operated only on demand. Now, concentration of effort by MCA is being put into the Kerikeri service, which operates three times a day during the summer season, and twice daily in the winter.  With this schedule there is not much spare capacity on the Islander, but Bruce Packer and Warren Dwight do get called on for the occasional charter or scenic flights, and also for carrying overloads from Mount Cook's 748 services to Rotorua or similarly for Air North services from Kaikohe. 

Aside from the two pilots, Mount Cook's only other staff in Auckland are two engineers who do the general servicing of the aircraft at Auckland International. However, the airline does not have any engineering facilities there, and 50 hr and 100 hr checks are done at Dalhoff & King Aviation at Ardmore under the supervision of the MCA engineers. Like NAC, the Mount Cook staff cannot readily bring to mind any problems with the aircraft. "It's a trouble-free aeroplane," says Warren Dwight. "It just keeps on going. It does its job well." 

MCA's Islander operates only VFR, and on the 125 mile journey between Auckland and Kerikeri it scuds along at around 1,000 ft, giving the passengers a magnificent view of some very attractive tourist-type countryside. At 128 kts indicated and 2300 rpm the trip is scheduled to take 55 minutes; the lower power setting results in less noise in the cabin, and conversation was noticeably easier than in NAC's aircraft where in fact the pilot used a public address system to converse with the passengers. 

Kerikeri airfield is what you would expect; virtually a grass clearing in the middle of the countryside. Passenger facilities are minimal, a fenced-off patch of gravel where the mini-bus parks. It's the epitome of simplicity. On our flight we were running about an hour and a half behind schedule due to the continued presence of a low pressure system, and it took pilot Warren Dwight only 12 minutes from touch down to take off and to unload the umpteen boxes of chirping day-old chicks, load three American tourists and their baggage, and complete the documentation on the front seat of the mini-bus. The Islander is an ideal aeroplane for the Kerikeri airfield, and it makes short work of the 2,625 ft main vector or the alternative 1,900 ft strip.  

Northern News, 20 May 1976

By November 1976 Mount Cook Airlines had received government approval to lease the airfield for 20 years and to extend it. The work involved stripping the dense scrub, excavating 25,000 cubic metres of earth and bringing in 15,000 cubic metres of metal. The hope was that the Hawker Siddeley 748s would be flying into Kerikeri by February 1977. 

On the 23rd of December the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr McLachlan, announced that the redeveloped Kerikeri airport would be developed as a private aerodrome. The Press reported him saying, While it was generally Government policy for the State to retain the financial responsibility of developing airports, it had been decided that it was in the interests of the Bay of Islands area to allow private development in view of the limited availability of Government funds for airport development. The 20-year agreement with Mount Cook Airlines required the airport to be maintained to the prescribed operational requirements and protected the rights of existing airport users including the Bay of Islands Aero Club and certain air work operators. The Government had agreed to permit the development as a private aerodrome in order to allow Mount Cook Airlines to protect its investment from new and uneconomic competition during the early growth period of the new service. But the Government retained the right to terminate the agreement at any time if this was considered in the public interest. The Government was satisfied the agreement was the most appropriate alternative to Government development, and that the resulting improved air service would benefit not only Northlanders but other New Zealanders wanting to take advantage of improved recreational facilities. Mr McLachlan said. According to Mount Cook Airlines general manager (Mr M. Comer), the Government is obliged to buy back the development at some time within the next 20 years. Work will star, almost immediately on the $250,000 project, with a deadline of March 13 to catch the last of the tourist season. Mr Comer said this would enable the company to link the entire tourist route in New Zealand, from the Bay of Islands through Auckland.: Rotorua. Christchurch. Mount Cook, and Queenstown to Milford Sound. It would also lead to development of tourist facilities in the Bay of Islands, facilities which were “rather; sparse” at present.

In preparation for the launch of the new 748 route it was branded as the Sunbird service with its own logo. The Sunbird itself was described, as a Jonathan Livingstone type seagull in a lazy, leisurely glide attitude crossing the face of a warm sun, which is also somewhat like a Kerikeri orange! The effect, it was claimed, was to be more in keeping with the warmth and leisurely, Bay of Islands way of life than drawings of marlins and makos!

Northern News, 17 March 1977

The service began, on schedule, on the 17th of March 1977. There was, however, a problem. Despite a record breaking construction performance Kerikeri Airport was not ready and the first flights operated to Kaikohe. The first flight into Kaikohe, on the evening of the 17th of March 1977, was flown by Hawker Siddeley 748 ZK-CWJ and carried 26 passengers, most of whom were on their way to a conference of the New Zealand Independent Meat Exporters Association at the Waitangi Hotel. Despite hopes that Kerikeri would be used by the end of the month construction delays on the $200,000 project continued. In the meantime Government gave an immediate go-ahead for night landing facilities to be installed at Kerikeri. Meanwhile, twice-daily jet-prop flights into Kaikohe continued until the new Kerikeri airport opened.

Mount Cook Airlines introduces its HS 748s to the Bay of Islands service… Hawker Siddeley 748 ZK-CWJ at Kaikohe presumably on the inaugural Sunbird flight on 17 March 1977. Northern News, 21 March 1977

On the 28th of April 1977, a few days before the first flight into the redeveloped airport, the Northern News reported that the government has given an immediate go-ahead for night landing facilities at Kerikeri Airport, making this the only airfield north of Auckland capable of handling aircraft after dark. Construction of the night landing facilities has already begun at Kerikeri Airport, and the whole system is due to be, completed within a month. 

Mount Cook Airlines' first flight to the newly developed Kerikeri airport was made on the 3rd of May 1977. What was to have been the first Hawker Siddeley 748 flight to touch down on the reconstructed Kerikeri Airport was held up by a mechanical fault in Auckland. Instead, a Britten Norman Islander ZK-MCC was used to make the first flight from Auckland into the new Kerikeri airport. Meanwhile the first 748 into Kerikeri airport had already arrived. Hawker Siddeley 748 ZK-MCA was flown under under the command of Captain Geoff Williams and First Officer David Wyatt with Chief Purser Trevor Edlin and Steward Wally McKee looking after the cabin. The three-hour flight from Christchurch brought 40 passengers to Kerikeri. While the new service was promoted as the Sunbird service the passengers flight were met with cold and wet conditions. 



The first Hawker Siddeley 748 Series 2A flight to Kerikeri. ZK-MCA and Britten-Norman BN2A-26 Islander, ZK-MCC, taken at Kerikeri on 3 May 1977. Pictured left to right are: David Wyatt, co-pilot on the HS748; Bruce Packer, pilot of the BN Islander; Captain Geoff Williams, operations manager and pilot of the HS748; Anna Laloli, Miss Airport 1977; Wally McKee, steward; Trevor Edlin; chief purser. Photographer unknown. S Lowe Collection

After the inaugural flights the airline ran a limited service to Kerikeri Airport that was supposed to last until the 1st of June when a full twice daily Hawker Siddeley 748 service was to have commenced. On the 14th of June, however, Mount Cook Airlines issued a statement advising that owing to technical difficulties with equipment at Kerikeri Airport the Northland Sunbird Service to the Bay of Islands from Auckland and all points south will be delayed until further notice. The morning jet-prop service from Auckland to the Bay of Islands (and then returning southbound) will continue as per the current timetable. and the after-noon service will be operated by Britten Norman Islander aircraft. The public response to the new service has been good. We thank the industry and the public for its support, and apologise for any inconveniences this delay may have caused. 

Northern News, 3 October 1977

On the 13th of October 1977 the Kerikeri airport, or as it was known from this point forward, the Bay of Islands Airport was officially opened by the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr McLachlan. Speaking at the opening of the new $300,000 airport Mr McLachlan said the question of private airports was often discussed by those looking for new and interesting places to fly for pleasure or profit. But the developer who put up the money was entitled to certain rights over his investment, he said. The airport, near Kerikeri, is the fifth to be developed by the Mount Cook company. Private interests have been pressing the Government for some time to force the company into allowing them to use these fields, particularly those at Mount Cook, Pukaki, and Manapouri. “Of course, very few projects of this sort are entirely without opposition,” said Mr McLachlan. “Ideally, of course, airport development and control would be undertaken by the central Government or local government, if for no other reason than to ensure a rational network development. “However I am sure that most of you here will know very well that airport development is a costly business, and it is not possible at the moment to avoid the present severe restraints on Government expenditure. “It makes sense to allow private development in some circumstances, such as here in the Bay of Islands. The biggest private development is infinitely preferable to a slower pace of growth which economic circumstances force, from the Government. “It follows that the developer who put up the money is entitled to certain rights over his investment, subject, of course, to the conditions set out in the agreement covering this venture,” said Mr McLachlan. Mr M. L. Comer, the manager of Mount Cook Airlines, said later that the company had an agreement with the Government to buy the airfield within 20 years. 

The Press, 17 June 1978

Despite Mount Cook Airlines’ expectations the Kerikeri flights did not meet and over the winter of 1978 flights were reduced to three days a week.  The flights were again increased to a daily schedule over the 1978/79 summer, but these too failed to generate an adequate the level of patronage to make the service viable. The Hawker Siddeley 748s were withdrawn from the Kerikeri service on the 31st of March 1979 in favour of an Islander service over the winter. The 748s returned for the 1979/1980 summer when one 748 flight was operated daily alongside two Islander flights. The 748s flew their final service to Kerikeri on the 31st of March 1980 and they never operated this route on a scheduled basis from this point on. Mount Cook never really attracted the number of tourists it hoped for on the Sunbird service. While Americans tourists were happy to fly north, Japa­nese tourists tended to do quicker tours to New Zealand which effectively meant Rotorua and the South Island resort areas. That meant the service needed a strong local support, which at this time wasn’t there in terms of the number of seats being offered. 

Instead the company reverted to a Britten Norman Islander service from the 1st of April 1979. These flights operated three times daily. In the summer of 1980 these capacity on these Islander flights was increased by addition of a second Britten Norman Islander on each flight. The idea of using two of them at once was to increase the number of seats available to 32 per trip or a total of 608 a week. 

The Press, 21 July 1979

On the 21st of September 1979 the Mount Cook company announced it would adopt a new corporate identity and be known as the Mount Cook Line. The company’s general manager, Mr P. S. Phillips said, "We are one organisation with a range of activities and names that must be very confusing to the public,” he said. The new plan will rationalise such activities as Mount Cook Airlines, Mount Cook Landlines, Mount Cook Tours, Mount Cook Freightlines, Mount Cook Sea Lines (the new catamaran service in the Bay of Islands), the marketing activities for Coronet Peak, and the company’s world-travel office chain. 

The Press, 18 November 1981

From the 28th of June 1982 the Britten Norman Islander that was used between Auckland and Kerikeri and Auckland and Rotorua was replaced with a faster Piper Pa31-350 Navajo Chieftain, ZK-MCM. While the new nine seat Chieftain provided the same capacity as the Islander it was considerably faster with the flight time between Auckland and Kerikeri being reduced from 1 hour reduced to 45 minutes. More importantly for the passengers, the Chieftain was distinctly more quiet to fly in, it was more comfortable and with its rear stair gave more of an airliner look than the Islander. With the introduction an additional on-demand flight was added to the Kerikeri schedule.

Mount Cook Line's Piper Chieftain schedule to Kerikeri effective 28 June 1982

Ready for its next service to Kerikeri, Piper Chieftain ZK-MCM at Auckland on 24 November 1982. Photo : S Lowe

The introduction of the Chieftain proved to be successful and as Kerikeri and the service grew further development of the service occurred on the 16th of January 1984 when de Havilland Canada Twin Otter ZK-MCO was introduced to the service. Two Rotorua-Auckland-Kerikeri return flights per day were flown each day. The Twin Otter plied the Auckland-Kerikeri route for the next two years with two flights being offered each day in the winter and three flights being offered over the summer.

The introduction of the Twin Otter. The timetable features ZK-CJZ which operated from Queenstown to Alexandra and Dunedin and Queenstown and Milford Sound in the 1970s.

 

Mount Cook Line's de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter ZK-MCO at Rotorua, on 27 January 1984. Photo : S Lowe

Northern News, 17 January 1984

In November 1984 the airline was branded as Mount Cook Airline. A new colour scheme was introduced with a broad blue stripe with white, red and yellow stripes above. 

On the 22nd of July 1986 the Press reported that strong growth in passenger demand for sightseeing flights in the Queenstown and Fiordland region has persuaded Mount Cook Airline to add a 20-passenger DHC Twin Otter to its Queenstown-based fleet The Twin Otter will be used mainly for flights to Milford Sound where its high-wing layout and STOL (short take off and landing) performance will ensure maximum viewing with reliability and safety. Extra pilots based in Queenstown have been appointed. The Twin Otter, which until then had operated the services to Kerikeri, was moved south to Queenstown and the Piper Chieftain returned to the Kerikeri run. Again ZK-MCM was used and this was supported by another Chieftain, ZK-EBT, which was leased from Airwork. The Chieftain flew four return services a day to Kerikeri with at the peak of summer a fifth flight being offered. 

Mount Cook Airline's Piper Chieftain ZK-MCM about to depart Kerikeri on 29 January 1992

Boarding for Auckland. Piper Chieftain ZK-MCM at Kerikeri on 3 March 1992

By late 1988 Air New Zealand had replaced its Fokker Friendship services from Auckland to both Kaitaia and Whangārei with Embraer Bandeirante services operated for Air New Zealand by Eagle Air. On the 23rd of May 1991 the Press carried an article which highlighted the difference between Eagle Air's and the Mount Cook Line's air fares between Auckland and the three Northland centres...  The $402 Bay of Islands-Auckland return air fare is exorbitant and an impediment to tourism, according to a Far North District councillor, Mr Dover Samuels. It was almost possible to fly more cheaply from Auckland to Sydney, Mr Samuels told a council meeting. The air fare was a "scandal" and needed investigating, he said. The community facilities manager, Mr Ron Teague, said that by driving to Whangarei and then making the return flight to Auckland he could save almost $200 and that was "ridiculous". It was also cheaper to fly to Auckland from Kaitaia, about 70km further northwest, than Kerikeri, he said. Mt Cook Airline said its standard fare from Kerikeri to Auckland was $201 one way, or $402 return. It also had a low fare of $141 available on 25 per cent of the seats for early bookings and superannuitants. The airline operates an eight-passenger Piper Chieftain aircraft. Eagle Airways said its fares to Auckland from Whangarei were $120 one way, or $240 return. It also had off-peak discount fares of $72 and $84. From Kaitaia to Auckland the fare was $166 one way, with discount fares of $100 and $116. The airline flew 18-seater and 15-seater Bandeirante aircraft.

The second Piper Chieftain used on the Kerikeri service, ZK-EBT, at Christchurch on 26 February 1989. Photo : S Lowe

The Bay of Islands appearing in the Mount Cook Airline timetable for the final time, effective, 29 March 1993

Despite such commentary Mount Cook Line's Piper Chieftain was to maintain the Kerikeri service until the 31st of October 1993. 

Late on that day Eagle Air's Embraer Bandeirante ZK-MAS positioned to Kerikeri. The following day Eagle Air took over the Kerikeri service with ZK-MAS operating the first Eagle flight to Auckland on the 1st of November 1993 marking the end of the Sunbird service. While Mount Cook Airlines had developed the air service to Kerikeri it was Eagle Air and later Air New Zealand that really made it fly, with the Auckland-Kerikeri service eventually becoming the prime Air New Zealand route to Northland.