Kāpiti Coast District Council has unanimously agreed to start negotiations with Air Chathams on a financial support programme designed to assist them in bringing their services to Kāpiti Coast Airport. Mayor K Gurunathan says the support would be to help get the service up and running and based on the understanding that a Kāpiti to Auckland service is financially viable in the region and the anticipation that there would be no additional costs to ratepayers. Council has been working to secure a viable Kāpiti-Auckland air service since Air NZ’s decision to withdraw services in March. This support will include funding from Council’s existing destination marketing budget. “The Council has agreed a maximum level of support it is prepared to offer over a start-up phase to help Air Chathams through that initial establishment in Kāpiti,” Mayor Gurunathan said. “Council’s in-house and commissioned research demonstrates there is support for air services to and from Kāpiti, particularly the Kāpiti Auckland route. Colmar Brunton research told us 91 per cent of people surveyed supported efforts to re-establish the passenger service. That’s a mandate from the community that they want us to keep pushing ahead on this issue,” he said. “Air Chathams expressed interest early on in providing Kāpiti with a service and has been working through all the technical and financial considerations. Any operator stepping in would be exposed to financial risk and some challenging government costs compared to other airfields. We, along with the owners of the Kāpiti Coast Airport want to help minimise this risk for Air Chathams. There’s still a lot to work through and we look forward to negotiating with Air Chathams and supporting them to bring an air service to our District.”
Source : Press Release: Kapiti Coast District Council, 14 June 2018
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ReplyDeleteBefore any negitive comments pop up... Basically......
ReplyDeleteTaupo-wellington SoundsAir ppl 25000
Council and Sounds air negotiated a deal that worked for both parties.. that led to the three seat subsidy policy that has yet to be used.. so far very successful venture..
Westport-wellington Sounds Air ppl 400-07000
Same as above and so far a successful venture.
Whanganui-Auckland Air Chathams ppl 40300
Not sure what the ins and outs council wise but... stated of slow with high amount of discount flights to attract the people. Now I understand the route is now succeeding.
Whakatane-Auckland Air Chathams ppl 35000
Once again I don't know the ins and outs but a deal between the council and the airline was done now it's very successful to the point of Saab flights once runway is sorted and the strong rumors of a Wellington sector...
Kapiti-Auckland Air Chathams ppl 54000....
So what do all of these negotiations with the local body hold... that when a local body negotiates with a small local/family run airline such as sounds air and Air Chathams. They can get the best out of both worlds get the best flight schedule that works for both Business and tourism offer deals with hotels eateries and activities etc (advertising) the airline get a financial support should they not sell a certain amount of seats per flight and as the past results have shown... it has yet to fail.
So what does the future hold for an Air Chathams Kapiti agreement and a Saab 340 flight to Auckland?
Yes we will have to wait and see for the outcome but it does look promising!
ReplyDeleteProposed schedule for PPQ on the Air Chats website :)
ReplyDelete