My last photo of the year was like my first photo... in having an international flavour...
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| Bombardier Global Express N327BC at Hamilton on 31 December 2021 |
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| Aerologistic Survey's Cessna 404 Titan VH-AZU at Hamilton on 16 January 2021 |
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
31 December 2021
Last and First photos of the Year
Jarden @ NSN
Thanks again to Jarden for these pics at Nelson on 21 December 2021...
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| A glimpse at the new terminal, outside... |
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| and inside |
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| Originair's BAe Jetstream 31 ZK-JSH |
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| and BAe Jetstream 32 ZK-JSJ |
30 December 2021
2021 - The NZ domestic airline scene in review
On the 1st of January I made some predictions of what might be this year... you can read them here...
This is what actually happened this year
20 January 2021
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan ZK-SLA entered service with Barrier Air offering an expanded schedule on North Shore to Great Barrier Island route. Barrier Air offered up to two flights a day between the two ports until Easter 2021. ZK-SLA's introduction to the Barrier Air fleet was under the command of Josh Grace who operated the first flights, GB 203 from North Shore to Great Barrier Island and the return flight GB 204.
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| Cessna 208B with Barrier Air titles at Claris airport on Great Barrier Island on 20 January 2021 |
14 February 2021
Originair commenced a once weekly direct service between Nelson and Hamilton BAe Jetstream 32 ZK-JSK operated flight OGN 235 from Nelson to Hamilton. The weekly direct service from Hamilton to Nelson operates on Fridays. Kiwi Regional was the last airline to operate direct flights between Hamilton and Nelson.
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| Originair's BAe Jetstream 32 ZK-JSK at Hamilton on 23 February 2021 |
22 February 2021
Cessna TU206G Turbo Stationair II ZK-KMH (c/n U20604075). ZK-KMH flew to the Chathams from Auckland, via Napier, on Monday the 22nd of February to replace ZK-KAI was damaged in a non-flying incident.
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| Cessna 206 ZK-KMH at Tuuta Airport preparing for a flight to Pitt Island on 9 July 2021 |
12 March 2021
Sounds Air added and additional Friday flight between Blenheim and Christchurch. The airline operates thrice daily between the two centres with the exception of Saturdays with one return flight and now Friday with four return flights.
13 March 2021
Saab 340A ZK-CIY operated the first Saab scheduled passenger service to the Chatham Islands flying flight 3C 591 from Auckland to the Chathams and the return flight to Auckland 3C 519.
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| Being towed back to the hangar Air Chathams' Saab 340 ZK-CIY after arriving back into Auckland from Chatham Islands. |
29 March 2021
While not operating as a regional airline, former regional airline Mountain Air ceased operations, a victim of the collapse of tourism brought about the Covid pandemic.
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| Britten Norman Islander ZK-PIZ, Tongariro, taken at the Chateau on 22 November 1996. |
March 2021
Air Kaikoura's twice weekly air service between Kaikoura and Wellington has dropped to an "on demand only" service. It now no longer appears on the Air Kaikoura website.
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| Air Kaikoura's Gippsland GA8 Airvan ZK-ORC departs Wellington for Kaikoura on 27 May 2021 after operating a freight flight to Wellington. |
8 June 2021
Sounds Air added extra flights on Monday and Thursdays on the Taupo-Wellington route taking the Taupo route to there are two flights to Wellington on Tuesdays and Fridays, three flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and one flight on Saturdays which returns on Sundays evenings.
On the same date Sounds Air has added extra flights on the Westport-Wellington route on Mondays and Fridays taking the the Westport route to are two flights to Wellington on Tuesdays and Thursdays, three flights on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and one flight on Saturdays and Sundays with a second return flight on Sundays evenings.
10 June 2021
Air Chathams have resumed their Norfolk Island service operated by ATR 72-500 ZK-MCO. The ATR flight was piloted by Matt Emeny and Paul Cattermole alongside Nikki and Alana looking after the cabin.
14 June 2021
Originair's BAe Jetstream 32 ZK-JSJ entered service operating ORIGIN 335 from Palmerston North to Nelson and the return service ORIGIN 332.
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| Originair's latest BAe Jetstream ZK-JSJ at Hamilton on 25 June 2021 |
17 June 2021
Air Chathams introduced Saab 340s to the Norfolk Island service with ZK-CIZ operating the Auckland to Norfolk Island flight, 3C 401 and return 3C 402.
29 June 2021
Commercial Helicopters Ltd, the company that operated Fly My Sky, went into liquidation. Fly My Sky's final services were operated by BN Islander ZK-SFK (ISLAND 2 KILO) from Auckland to Claris (FS15) and return (FS9015) on the same afternoon.
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| Fly My Sky's BN Islander ZK-PIZ about depart on a service to Great Barrier Island on 13 March 2021 |
1 July 2021
Sounds Air added an additional Thursday flight on the Blenheim-Christchurch route taking the Blenheim-Christchurch route to three flights on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, four on Thursdays and Fridays, one on Saturdays and two on Sundays.
23 July 2021
Air Chathams' ended scheduled passenger operations with Convair 580 aircraft. Convair 580 ZK-CIB, Air Chathams' first Convair, flew its final scheduled passenger service, 3C 512, from the Chathams Islands to Wellington and the return 3C 521 to the Chatham Islands.
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| ZK-CIB on her final day of scheduled passenger operations at Wellington on 23 July 2021. Photo : Wellington International Airport |
3 August 2021
Bring Our Birds Home announced on their Facebook page they had acquired Eagle Air's first Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante, ZK-ERU. It was subsequently moved to the National Transport & Toy Museum at Wanaka for public display.
15 August 2021
Air Chathams Convair 580 ZK-CIB operated a final passenger charter to the Chatham Islands flying from Auckland to Wellington as CHATHAMS 580 and then out to the Chathams as CHATHAMS 581 on Friday 13 August 2021. The return flights operated on Sunday 15 August 2021, CHATHAMS 580 to Wellington and CHATHAMS 581 to Auckland. Thus ended Air Chathams' Convair passenger operations.
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| Air Chathams' Convair 580 ZK-CIB at Tuuta Airport, Chatham Islands on 13 August 2021 |
17 August 2021
All of New Zealand moved to Alert Level 4 Lockdown at 11:59pm meaning the suspension of most domestic airline operations. On the 31st of August all of New Zealand south of Auckland moves to Alert Level 3 at 11:59pm. This lockdown, and an earlier lockdown impacting on Auckland, disrupted the airline scene. Air Chathams and Barrier Air's normal scheduled services from Auckland did not resume until the 15th of December.
13 September 2021
Air New Zealand introduced a daily service between Kerikeri and Wellington to help connect Northland to the rest of the country while Auckland remained in Level 4 lockdown. The service was later increased to twice daily.
17 September 2021
Air Chathams' Convair 580 ZK-CIB operated its final freight service on the 17th of September 2021 operating as CHATHAMS 580 from Auckland to Invercargill to pick up a cargo of live crayfish. The return flight also operated as CHATHAMS 580. The final flights were operated under the command of Captain Anthony Borich and First Officers Daryl Pettit and Ruthy Nisbet. Thus ended Air Chathams' Convair operations.
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| Convair 580 ZK-CIB departs Christchurch for the last time on 12 September 2021 |
29 September 2021
After the success of the Wellington-Kerikeri service Air New Zealand introduced a daily service between Whangarei and Wellington while Auckland remained in lockdown.
22 October 2021
Originair commenced a twice weekly Nelson to Napier service with British Aerospace Jetstream 32 ZK-JSJ flying from Nelson as OGN 621 and on the return flight OGN 654.
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Originair BAe Jetstream 32 ZK-JSJ arrives at Napier on 22 October 2021. Photo : Hawke's Bay Airport Facebook page |
23 October 2021
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan ZK-SDE entered service with Barrier Air flying two return freight flights from Auckland to Great Barrier Island, BARRIER 101 and return 102 this morning and 109 and return 110 this afternoon.
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| Cessna Grand Caravan ZK-SDE after her arrival at Auckland on 21 October 2021 |
26 October 2021
Originair commenced twice weekly Palmerston North-Napier flights operating on Fridays and Sundays. British Aerospace Jetstream 32 ZK-JSJ flew the inaugural flight ORIGIN 861 and the return ORIGIN 868.
6 December 2021
Originair commenced thrice weekly Napier-Hamilton flights operating on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. British Aerospace Jetstream 32 ZK-JSJ flew the inaugural flight ORIGIN 721 under the command of Captain Murray Vincent and First Officer Jan Meyer and also the return flight ORIGIN 726.
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| OG 721 boarding at Napier on 6 December 2021 |
15 December 2021
Air Auckland commenced a daily service between Whitianga and Great Barrier Island. The first flight was flown by in Cessna 172 ZK-EJU
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| Air Auckland's Cessna 172 ZK-EJU at Ardmore on 15 December 2019. |
16 December 2021
Sunair commenced a twice daily service between Great Barrier Island and Ardmore. 12 flights are being operated each week. The first flight was flown in Piper Aztec ZK-FVP
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| Piper Aztec ZK-FVP at Great Barrier Island earlier in the year on 20 January 2021 |
16 December 2021
Barrier Air commenced a daily service between Auckland and Whitianga. 12 flights are being operated each week. The first flight was flown by Daryl Williamson in Cessna 208 Grand Caravan ZK-SDE
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| Barrier Air's Cessna 208 Cessna Grand Caravan ZK-SDE at Whitianga after flying the inaugural flight from Auckland on 16 December 2021 |
23 December 2021
Air New Zealand's newest ATR 72-600 ZK-MZF entered service operating as it first flight NZ5346 from Christchurch to Wellington and its return, NZ5349. ZK-MZF was the last ATR 72-600 Air New Zealand had on order. The first, ZK-MVA, arrived in New Zealand in November 2012. The airline has a fleet of 29 ATR 72-600s.
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| The last and latest ATR 72-600 ZK-MZF arriving into Christchurch on 26 December 2021 as NZ5773 from Napier. |
29 December 2021
New Maintenance Base
For quite some time Barrier Air has been using Flight Care in Napier as it's major maintenance provider. Flight Care have now enlarged premises in Tauranga enabling the airline to have its maintenance performed in much closer Tauranga. The first Caravan in for a check was ZK-SDD which arrived on the evening of the 27th of December 2021. After overnight maintenance it was airborne just after 6.00am the following morning to pick up the morning schedule to Great Barrier Island.
Air Services to Motueka - Index of Posts
Thanks to Jarden for these pictures of the infrastructure at Motueka...
The first photo used to be a terminal for various scheduled services operated from Motueka.
The following links take you to posts on the operators that have serviced Motueka
1984-1988
1988-1996
http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2017/07/air-nelson-part-1-nelson-wellington.html
1996-1998
28 December 2021
Airline Airborne Adventures
I love flying on our regional airlines, in particular flying on new routes and to new airports...
Some routes I have flown before on other airlines... but its always good to try the new operators
During the year this has been my new route flying...
20 Jan 2021 - GB 205 - North Shore to Great Barrier (new route for me on Barrier Air)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/01/gb205-to-gbz.html
20 Jan 2021 - GB 210 - Great Barrier to North Shore (new route for me on Barrier Air - previously flown on Great Barrier Airlines)
http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/01/great-barrier-north-shore-on-gb210.html
27 May 2021 - S8 907 - Wellington to Westport (new route for me on Sounds Air - previously flown on Air New Zealand)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/05/s8-907-to-westport.html
28 May 2021 - S8 906 - Westport to Wellington (new route for me on Sounds Air - previously flown on Air West Coast)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/05/s8-906-to-wellington.html
5 Oct 2021 - NZ 604 - Queenstown to Wellington (new route for me)
http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/10/zqn-wlg-on-nz604.html
6 Dec 2021 - OG 442 - Hamilton to Palmerston North (new route on Originair - previously flown on Air New Zealand)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/12/were-so-happy-to-be-back.html
6 Dec 2021 - OG 861 - Palmerston North to Napier (new route for me)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/12/og-861-palmerston-north-to-napier.html
6 Dec 2021 - OG 721 - Napier to Hamilton (Inaugural Service for Originair - previously flown on Sunair)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/12/originair-commence-napier-hamilton.html
16 Dec 2021 - GB 401 - Auckland to Whitianga (Inaugural Service for Barrier Air)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/12/good-morning-whitianga.html
16 Dec 2021 - GB 402 - Whitianga to Auckland (Inaugural Service for Barrier Air)
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2021/12/whitianga-we-have-lift-off.html
My wish list for 2022
Takaka - Karamea return on Golden Bay Air - Already booked
Kaikoura - Wellington return on Air Kaikoura
Tauranga - Motiti Island return of Island Air
A flight on Air Auckland
So what's your wish list?
Jarden at KTF
Thanks to Jarden for these pictures taken at Takaka on 21 December 2020... I'm going to be there next week!
As a little summer brain teaser, what operators can you think of that have flown regular to and from Takaka?
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| Golden Bay Air's Takaka terminal |
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| Golden Bay Air's Airvan was on maintenance |
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| Local owned Cessna 172 ZK-DAZ |
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| Once used a terminal, the Golden Bay Flying Club's clubrooms |
27 December 2021
Air Kaikoura Offering Summertime KBZ-WLG Flights
Air Kaikoura has resumed flights between Kaikoura and Wellington. The flights are again being offered on Fridays and Sundays on various weekends in December and January. Flights depart Kaikoura to Wellington at 14.00 and return Wellington to Kaikoura at 16.00.
Air Kaikoura flies under visual flight rules. The operator will reschedule a delayed flight for either later the same day or early the next day if at all possible; if not possible to successfully reschedule due weather, Air Kaikoura will refund airfare in full.
The Wellington terminus for the flights is at the Aero Club.
NEG finally returned to service
Air New Zealand's Bombardier Q300 ZK-NEG has been finally returned to service...
It was last used in service on 5 December 2020 when it glew WLG-NSN as NZ8323. It was stored in NSN from then until 6 June 2021 when it flew NZ8847 NSN-CHC. It has been stored in CHC until it's return to service on 24 December 2021 when it flew NZ8846 from Christchurch to Nelson and the return NZ8865
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| ZK-NEG at Tauranga on 16 May 2018 |
26 December 2021
A couple more...
A couple more from my brief visit to Ardmore on my drive home on 16 December 2021
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| Cessna 402 ZK-MAP was on the taxi before departing to Hastings |
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| Cessna 560 Citation V ZK-XGO was off to Tauranga |
