This blog started off by focussing on NZ's smaller 3rd level airlines, past and present. It has evolved to trying to present some record of NZ's domestic airline operations and some of the larger charter operators, interesting NZ international airliner movements and photos I have taken around the country. Comments, corrections or contributions are welcome, Steve - westland831@gmail.com
29 December 2020
2020 - The NZ domestic airline scene in review
25 December 2020
A Christmas Blessing
21 December 2020
Considering Further Inter-Regional Services
Two bits of news in the Stuff series on regional airlines in New Zealand...
What aircraft do you fly, and how many do you have?
Originair operates British Aerospace Jetstream aircraft. We are currently operating two Jetstreams and are planning to add two more of the type.
What are your future plans?
Further inter-regional services are being considered.
- So I presume that ECI and ECJ are the two... or am I being too optimistic?
- Now, if you were Originair what inter-regional routes would you think? It doesn't sound like they want to take on Air NZ.
Crayfish Special
Air Chathams operated its first Saab flight to the Chatham Islands today. Saab 340 ZK-CIY flew out to the Chathams from Auckland as CHATHAMS 391 under the command of Craig Emeny and Adrian Whitehead being the first of type to visit the Chathams. After picking up 3 tonne of crayfish the Saab thn flew to Wellington as CHATHAMS 312. It will have been an interesting exercise for Air Chathams and it will be interesting to see what unfolds as result of this flight.
Saab 340 ZK-CIY at the Chathams on 21 December 2020 |
19 December 2020
Terrific Tauranga Time
Sunair's Cessna 172 ZK-DPN was in the circuit |
Vans RV-7A ZK-ECE did a long roll out enabling me to get a decent shot |
My first photo of Cessna 206 ZK-EDI in 27 years |
Cessna 172 ZK-FII doing Island Air's Motiti run |
Photo of the day - Hughes 500D ZK-HUT |
Eurocopter EC 120B ZK-IFG with a very hard to read rego |
MBB BO105 ZK-IKO being towed back to its hangar |
Eurocopter EC 130 ZK-IPO - hard to photograph these black machines |
ELA Aviacion ELA-08-R-115 ZK-LMO already too high for a decent shot |
Vans RV-8 ZK-MRM returning to its hangar |
Bombardier Q300 ZK-NEQ tucking its gear away |
My first sighting of De Havilland Thruxton Jackaroo ZK-PHZ |
Tecnam P96 Golf ZK-PPG presumably returning home |
as was Robin DR400/500 ZK-TZA |
And finally Cessna 172 ZK-ZDM on the taxi for departure |
14 December 2020
From Seneca to Something Bigger
The latest installment of the Stuff series on our regional airlines features Golden Bay Air. As in all of them there is not buch new, but every now and then there is an interesting little snippet. This is snippet from this article
Before Covid we had planned to replace our twin-engine aircraft with a larger 10 seat one, to meet increasing demand. We are now waiting to see what happens this summer before we take that step.
Golden Bay Air's Piper Seneca ZK-ZAG awaiting take-off clearance at Wellington on 27 October 2014. |
The airline said about its fleet, These fit the smaller airfields we fly into at Karamea and Tākaka. The Seneca is also a fully instrument-equipped aircraft, that allows us to fly reliably between Wellington and Tākaka in all weather. We installed a GNSS instrument approach to Tākaka for this purpose.
So what aircraft would you replace the Seneca with???
My profile on Golden Bay Air and its services is here... http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2011/06/sun-is-shining-on-golden-bay-air.html
13 December 2020
In the Shadow of the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges - East Coast Air
In mid-August 1980 the Wairarapa Times-Age reported that the Napier Aero Club was applying to the ir Services Licensing Authority to operate a daily Napier-Waipukurau-Dannevirke-Masterton service. It was envisaged that a morning flight would depart Napier at 8.40am to arrive at Masterton 10.20am. In the afternoon the service would depart Masterton at 1.30pm to arrive at Napier 3.20pm.
The Daily Telegraph subsequently reported that, despite an objection from the Wairarapa and Ruahine Aero Club, a licence was duly granted on the 28th of August 1980 with the provision of a minimum of 2 return flights per week. The Club was given the right to overfly Waipukurau and Dannevirke if there was no traffic offering. The report said the service would "start in about a month" and would enable connections with Air Central and Air New Zealand schedules. The service would use the Club's Cessna 206 Super Skywagon, ZK-DVI (c/n 206-0163). The Club's manager, Mr Ross McKelvie, told the Daily Telegraph, no additional staff would be needed.
Air Napier's Cessna 206 ZK-DVI which operated the East Coast Air service at Napier on 21 January 1981. |
From the timetable below the service commenced on the 26th of September 1980. It operated under the name of East Coast Air, which was the commercial division of the Napier Aero Club. The service, which operated four days a week from Tuesday through Friday, was particularly timed to connect with Air New Zealand's Friendship service to and from Auckland but as show connections were also available with other Air New Zealand and Air Central services.
Wearing Napier Aero Club titles, Cessna 172 ZK-DNN at Napier on 21 January 1981 |
08 December 2020
Interesting Purchase
An interesting change of ownership has appeared on the NZ civil aircraft register... Christian Aviation's Piper Navajo ZK-CAM and Piper Chieftain ZK-CAL have been registered to Dairy Tech International Ltd which is owned by Greg Misson.
He previously owned Hamilton-based VIP Air Charter... http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2012/06/vip-air-charter-and-its-te-kaahu.html.
One wonders if anything will develop from the purchase???
Christian Aviation's Piper Navajo ZK-CAM at Whakatane on 19 May 1988 |
Visiting Tauranga on 26 February 2015 was Christian Aviation's Piper Chieftain ZK-CAL |
Originair Ops
06 December 2020
Yet Another 750XL
05 December 2020
New East Cape Flyer
There's no Koru club, no duty free, no departure gates and no bustling terminal. When you board an Air Ruatoria flight you’ll likely meet your pilot at his caravan, share a cup of tea, then walk over parched grass to reach your little plane. The nation’s newest commercial air company is the realisation of a childhood dream for Mahanga Maru. The 56-year-old Wellington-based consultant was raised in the small East Coast town. It was a bustling place in Maru’s childhood, before the 1980s downturn took its toll, and he would spend days roaming the countryside and looking skyward at the plethora of small aircraft coming and going from the town's aerodrome. “It’s a bit of a risk starting an aviation business in the Covid environment. Some of my mates think I'm mad. The idea is to test the market and see how it goes,” he said. Maru got his pilot’s licence at 23 and got a job at Air Gisborne doing charter work, instructing students, fish spotting and flying air ambulance flights, before heading away to university. The idea of starting a local scenic flight business in Ruatoria was first hatched in the 1970s, when three farmers applied unsuccessfully for government approval. “I’d always thought it was an idea worth trying. I always kept my licence up to date and I got to the point of thinking ‘well I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time so why don’t I give it a crack’,” he said. “It’s a remote place that not many people go to. That can be a strength. I’d like to get a bit of activity back in the place. It’s a pretty poor area,” Maru said. He will lease a four-seat Cessa 172 which will be based at the Ruatoria airstrip for the summer. Maru will be living in a caravan on the airstrip too. The airstrip was created in the 1960s by a farmer with a home-made grader. The clubroom, still extant, was an old house that was dragged across the Waiapu River by a bulldozer. ”The aero club in the 60s and 70s had about 80-odd members. They owned three aircraft. It was a very active club, bigger than the Rotorua club at the time. I watched the planes fly past and fell in love with it,” Maru said. The airstrip was upgraded earlier this year after receiving $100,000 through the Provincial Growth Fund. “I’ll be living the dream. The advantage I have is that I grew up there, so I have the knowledge and can tell people about our maunga, our river and our people. It’ll be a cultural experience,” he said. “Mostly it's about giving people access to a part of the world they wouldn’t have access to before”. Air Ruatoria will offer a range of scenic flights, including sights like Mt Hikurangi, Whangara (of Whale Rider fame) and the Rocket Lab launch pad near Mahia. The flights will cost between $199 and $299 per person.
For a TV clip see https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/ruatoria-man-decides-start-his-own-airline-v1
For more information see : https://www.air-rua.com/
Two operators have offered a regular service to Ruatoria...
Marshall's Air Transport - http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2013/04/rural-east-coast-flyer-marshalls-air.html
Aotearoa Airlines - http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2012/02/gisbornes-aotearoa-airlines.html
04 December 2020
Great News from Originair
Great news from Originair on their Facebook page...
Stage one of our new schedule beginning mid February is available for purchase now. We will be adding a further Jetstream 32 to our fleet which will enable us to increase this schedule. This will include double daily flights between Nelson and Palmerston North as well as Hamilton and Palmerston North. Check out our new direct flight Hamilton to Nelson on a Friday evening for you to enjoy a weekend in our sunny region before returning on the direct flight Nelson to Hamilton on a Sunday afternoon.
In each of the timetables below there is the current timetable, the interim timetable from 14 February 2021 and the timetable from 28 March 2021
Prior to this coming out I had sat down and worked out my own schedule... Rationale...
- Business traffic is where the passengers are... so the first flights need to be out early... I think the 8.00am out of Hamilton and 9.10am out of Nelson are too late in my opinion. Meetings start at 9.00am!
- Hamilton fog is an issue. Most mornings, by 9.50am it is clear.
- If they wanted to do more a midday HLZ-NSN return might work and a NSN-TRG return. Kiwi Regional was getting at least half full flights.
If I was Originair this is what I would do...