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A new air service between Hawke's Bay and the prime South Island wine region of Marlborough is being considered by top-of-the-south provincial carrier Sounds Air. The possibility of a new carrier to facilitate direct flights between Napier and Blenheim was revealed by Hawke's Bay Airport Co acting chairman Jim Scotland, in presenting the company's draft statement of intent to a meeting of the finance committee of major shareholder, the Napier City Council. Mr Scotland, airport chief executive Nick Story and Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford were all unable to be contacted last night by Hawke's Bay Today for further comment. But, asked whether the discussions were in the early stages or more formal, Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said: "I think it's between those two points." He believes there is a demand for a service between Hawke's Bay and the Marlborough-Nelson region, and added: "They are two of the premier grape and wine regions of New Zealand." Such a service "sits very well" with the regions, and would assist development and growth in both areas, he said. Sounds Air, which has operated for more than 25 years and is regarded as a specialist Cook Strait flyer, has already made a significant move recently to pick-up a Westport service which is being dropped by Air New Zealand. It is starting that service on April 28, in partnering with Development West Coast in the financing of the company's second single-engined nine-seater Pilatus PC12. The company has its own airport near Picton and also links Nelson, Wellington, Paraparaumu and Wanganui, its services being based mainly around four Cessna Caravan aircraft, each with a capacity of 13 passengers. Hawke's Bay air services campaigner Simon Nixon also believes there is a demand for a Hawke's Bay-Marlborough service, which he said would be welcomed, particularly by wineries with staff flying regularly between the regions whose only option is the current two-sector Air New Zealand flights through Wellington. A check last night showed the cheapest fare on the national airliner from Napier to Blenheim on Saturday and returning on Sunday was $629. Earlier this week Hawke's Bay Airport annouced a $5 million terminal upgrade and a new name - Ahuriri Airport Hawke's Bay.
While there is undeniably a viticulture market between Hawkes Bay and Blenheim I'm not sure a) the market is right for these flights & b) if the 208B or PC12 is the right aircraft for this flight
ReplyDeleteApril fool?
ReplyDeleteWould have thought NSN-NPE would have been more likely, or a NSN-PMR-NPE conncection.
ReplyDeleteBack between 2004-2007 when the had the NSN-NPE Route
DeleteKiwi Regional are publicly indicating they are interested in servicing Westport as well...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/kiwiRegionalairlines/posts/752923538155578
Im picking air will never flow over the wings of a plane with that hideous KRA logo on it, between any two places in NZ!
DeleteIm inclined to agree, theres no sense of direction.
DeleteThe network is too thin, ZQN is a major obstacle for a 340A.
I think you'll find its gonna be a complete phantom, just like KiwiJet was with the proposed Jetconnect buy out, then ERJ145, the Avro Rjs.
Napier should be trying to get A320-200 into the Airport even if its one flight per week the runway is large enough
ReplyDeleteWhy not a 773 once a month instead?
DeleteEmirates A380 once every two months?
DeleteHawkes Bay Airport isn't large enough to fit 777-300 A380..it can only Fit 737-8 and A320-200 as the runway is only 1750M
DeleteAah tricky! But what if the A380 or 773 was only half full?
DeleteThat would work but it would not be economical for seat ratio per passenger.
DeleteIf they are looking for a link to jion the wine regions together then why not a GIS -NPE _BHE route, this would have the majority of New Zealands wine areas connected
ReplyDelete