Kiwiair - A Successor to Air Albatross

Kiwiair was established in 1985 as the trading name of Paraparaumu-based Gold Coast Air Ltd, a company that was established on the 4th of June 1975.

On the 5th of March 1995 the Waimarino Bulletin reported that Raetihi and Ohakune will have a regular scheduled air service to both Auckland and Wellington from later this month. Kiwi Air will launch the new service, which will fly to Auckland and Wellington every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, on Tuesday 19th March. The five and seven-seater twin-engined Piper aircraft will fly from Karioi Airfield, near the Winstone Samsung pulp mill. Fares are structured along Air New Zealand guidelines, with a ticket from Karioi to Auckland costing $98 and from Karioi to Wellington $75. Flights north will stop over in Tokoroa. 

Kiwi Air was launched by Gold Coast Air, a flight training and charter company, based in Paraparaumu. Steve Ewan, spokesperson for Gold Coast Air, said that the new venture had taken six months to plan. However, for the first three months of operations, the company will carefully watch booking levels and will then re-assess route structure. Although the trade from the Ohakune/Raetihi area is unlikely to be as great as from the bigger centres, Mr Ewan said demand would have to be "very poor" before the stop at Karioi was discontinued, as the flights would pass over this area on their way to Wellington anyway. 

To provide a new service for ski enthusiasts, the company plans to put on an extra flight, seven days per week, during the season. Karioi was chosen by Kiwi Air as a stop-over, as it is a licenced air-strip and has an all-weather capability, which will be important during the winter months. Apart from ski enthusiasts in the winter, Mr Ewan believes businessmen visiting the Winstone Samsung pulp mill, shoppers wishing to visit Auckland or Wellington and holiday-makers needing to connect up with international flights will make use of the new service. Check-in for flights will be carried out at Karioi Airfield. For people without transportation, Kiwi Air plans to come to an arrangement with a local taxi firm, enabling passengers to be driven to the airfield.

The first flight operated on the 20th of March 1985 when one of the company's twin-engined Piper aircraft landed for the first time at Karioi airfield. The Waimarino Bulletin reported the pilot, Mr Steve Ewan, picked up two passengers, Tony Wright, the manager of Turoa Skifields and Alistair Mcllwrick, the company's accountant, who flew to Auckland for the day. The service flies to Auckland via Tokoroa and directly to Wellington three times per week. The new company also plans to fly into Karioi seven days per week during the ski season. No mention was made of which aircraft was used but Piper PA23 Aztecs ZK-CUS and ZK-TNH and Piper Navajo ZK-DCE were leased by Kiwiair.  

Kiwiair's Ruapehu timetable with flights to Ohakune from both Auckland and Wellington, effective 1 June 1985

Before the Ruapehu service started... leased Piper Navajo ZK-DCE at Christchurch on 24 December 1984

Presumably after the Ruapehu service ended... leased Piper Aztec ZK-CUS at Palmerston North on 18 January 1986

As the ski season approached Kiwi Air developed a relationship with Turoa Taxis to transport the skiers between the Karori airstrip and the nearby Ruapehu skifield. 

On the 13th of August the Waimarino Bulletin reported on the air service… Kiwi Air Services operate nine flights a week between Auckland and the Waimarino. They work in with Turoa Taxis 7-seater mini-bus which meets the plane and provides a service from the Karioi airstrip to the destination(s) of the travelling passengers. On this flight last week from Auckland there was only one passenger who had come to ski Turoa for the day on a package deal of $199 which included return flight, transport up to the skifield and an all-day pass. Because there was only one passenger, pilot Andy Greville of Auckland had flown the 6-seater Piper Aztec, the smallest of Kiwi Air Service's three aircraft. The other two are a 7-seater Piper Navaho and a 9-seater Piper Chieftain. The flights are made from Auckland International Airport and take about 55 minutes depending on weather and flight routes. 

An extended schedule to Auckland with nine flights per week. Waimarino Bulletin, 6 August 1985

Ohakune Taxi proprietor Sven Elfstrom (left) with Kiwi Air pilot Andy Greville (right) and their passenger Wayne Anderson of Auckland. Piper Aztec ZK-TNH is in the background. Source : Waimarino Bulletin, 13 August 1985

Pilot Andy Greville said that the Karioi airstrip had been selected for this end of the operation because of the base radio and beacon established on Ian Strachan's property and the very accurate local weather reports he receives from Karioi on the flight down. "I can talk to them all the way from Hamilton," he said, "and this makes it possible to plan my approach from some distance away. This morning I could see Ruapehu rising above dense cloud cover in clear brilliant sunshine but was able to pick a hole over Raetihi to get through on an all-visual approach." 

Andy explained that the nine flights per week in and out of Karioi are designed to serve the whole Waimarino community but at present 80-90% of the passengers he carries are staff from the Winstone Samsutig Pulpmill. This is expected to change as the ski season develops. "We are looking at Japanese skiers and others coming in on international flights our Auckland terminal is right next door to the Auckland International Airport terminal. Andy makes one flight each way per day — down from Auckland in the morning and back at 5.15 in the evening — on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. On Fridays and Mondays he makes two flights per day — two in the morning and two in the evening. This is to enable weekend commuters, either in Auckland or the Waimarino, to spend a full weekend either skiing or visiting the Queen City. The service is no winter only wonder "Our intention is to serve the whole community by operating it the whole year round," he said.

The Christchurch Press on the 27th of August 1985 also reported on Kiwiair's service... Thanks to Kiwi Air there is now a regular air service operating in and out of the big North Island commercial ski-field, Turoa. The company is running a daily service to Ohakune from Auckland and Wellington, leaving at 7.45 or 8 a.m. It guarantees to have customers “on their skis at Turoa” within 90min and back home in their respective cities by 6 p.m. after a full day’s ski-ing. Kiwi Air has just bought a new twin-engine Cessna with a capacity for 10 passengers to back up its twin-engine Piper. It leases two other aircraft. The identities of the Cessna twin and the Piper Chieftain listed above are unknown as is whether they were ever used on the service.

In September 1985 a couple of letters to the editor of the Waimarino Bulletin complained about cancellation of flights, questioned whether the service was in fact a scheduled service. Kiwiair principal Steve Ewan told the Bulletin assured the Bulletin the service was scheduled, saying, "In six months we have only had to cancel seven flights. We appreciate that because we are serving a small community where there may be only three or four or five passengers we have to be flexible, and in the past we have rescheduled flight times to fit in with the requirements of people here."

A reduced schedule to Auckland with four flights per week. Waimarino Bulletin, 17 September 1985

On the 22nd of October 1985 the Bulletin reported Kiwiair will be flying on a new timetable from 12 November which should provide better service for the central North Island, according to Steve Ewen, manager of the airline. From that date the airline will be based in Wellington and will depart from there each Tuesday and Thursday at 8.00am, calling at Ohakune, Taumarunui, Tokoroa and Auckland. On Tuesday the flight will return via the same destinations, departing from Auckland at midday. On Thursday departure will be at 5.00pm, allowing passengers a day's business or pleasure in Auckland. Mr Ewen said the airline had recently purchased a twin-engine Piper aircraft which can safely operate on the grass strips common in this area. "The Volcanic Plateau is poorly served by airlines for both tourist and local community trade," he said. "We would like to develop a service which gets tourists here, as well as helping the people who live here." Kiwiair also offer charter flying.

This was the last mention of Kiwiair in the Waimarino Bulletin and the service clearly petered out. The newly purchased Piper came in the form of a second Aztec. Piper PA23-250 Aztec E arrived from Sydney on the 1st of December 1985 and which was registered a few days later as ZK-KWI. 

With the arrival of the second Piper Aztec and the move of its base to Wellington Kiwiair was in a prime position when Air Albatross collapsed on the 22nd of December 1985. Kiwiair seized the opportunity and established scheduled flights began between Wellington and Blenheim on the 6th of January 1986. Initially four flights a day were offered on weekdays at peak times with three return flights offered on Saturdays and Sundays. 

On Kiwiair's Blenheim service... Piper Aztec ZK-KWI at Wellington on 16 January 1986

On Kiwiair's Blenheim service... Piper Aztec ZK-KWI at Wellington on 16 January 1986

Kiwiair timetable, January 1986

By late 1986, with strong competition from Air New Zealand and Skyferry, the Blenheim service was pared back to the early morning weekday 6.40am service to Blenheim and the return 7.20am service back to Wellington. 

Following the end of air services Kiwair continued to operate charter work under name Kiwiair and Gold Coast Air. On the 5th of February 1987 Aztec ZK-KWI was on a charter flight from Paraparaumu to Christchurch. Near midnight the pilot reported an engine problem. Despite perfect flying conditions  with excellent visibility, clear starlight, and a good horizon the Aztec, which was seen flying about three kilometres to the east of Wellington and apparently not in difficulty, crashed into a ridge on Orongorongo Station. The pilot and his two passengers were killed and the aircraft destroyed.  The accident report suggested the pilot was caught by the “black hole” optical illusion which Wellington appear closer than it was because o: dark terrain... Another plane was used by the investigators to simulate the Aztec’s flight path and they believed the pilot may have mistaken his distance from the runway, whose lights were cluttered by those of surrounding, suburbs. He was further away than he thought, and then turned still further away. This appeared the only reason for his left, rather than right, turn which took the plane on a collision course for the mountains... The pilot’s left turn and descent near Turakirae Head could only be explaned by his being lost and being affected by visual illusion.

Following the crash Kiwiair's remaining scheduled services ceased.

Piper Aztec ZK-TNH at Paraparaumu15 May 1988 with Gold Coast Air titles on the engine cowlings.

On the 9th of June 1992 Gold Coast Air Ltd changed its name to Welair Ltd.