Gisborne timetable change

Air New Zealand’s new flight schedule for its Gisborne to Auckland route is now in effect — with a slight tweak to please early-risers. Earlier this year the national carrier announced the Auckland-Gisborne schedule would see up to five additional weekly Q300 services, growing market capacity around 15 percent (year-on-year). An Air NZ spokeswoman confirmed those changes came into effect last Sunday. “This included the introduction of an additional weekday service departing Gisborne at 12.55pm. “The new departure time for the morning Gisborne-Auckland flight has been revised to 6.15am (from 7.10am) to further improve connectivity to our Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch hubs. “The airline introduced a revised schedule for Wellington-Gisborne services, to reflect the transition from 19-seat Beech aircraft to 50-seat Q300s, with up to three daily services Monday to Friday. “Air New Zealand completed the transition from 19-seat Beech to 50-seat Q300 aircraft for services between Gisborne and Wellington in August. The Gisborne-Wellington morning departure remains unchanged at 6.30am.”

Departure time change welcomed

Gisborne Chamber of Commerce president Gavin Murphy welcomed the change of departure time to Auckland. “It’s good to see Air New Zealand considering their business travelling customers. The 7.10am flight landed you in Auckland just in time to join the middle of the rush-hour traffic. “Hopefully, this earlier departure time will assist local business travellers, and allow them to get to meetings in Auckland’s CBD more promptly. You just have to hope the early meeting outputs are worth that early start.” The revised schedule for both Gisborne services expects to deliver more than 40,000 additional seats a year, as well as a less complex and more consistent daily schedule for customers, along with a year-on-year capacity increase of 70 percent. Activate Tairawhiti chief executive Steve Breen said the changes represented “just one of the ways” the national carrier continued to work with and support the region. “Air New Zealand is responding to local demand for more seats, and a more business-friendly early morning flight, by adding extra flights and this new 6.15am departure time. The value this adds is that local business people can now miss the peak rush hour in Auckland, start their business meetings earlier, and gain more value out of their time in Auckland.”