Noted tonight was Air Chathams have removed all flights between Auckland and Kāpiti Coast from Friday 31st July 2026.
The removal of these flights from the system come days after Air Chathams missed the due date to repay a $500,000 loan from the Kāpiti Coast District Council.
Airline chief executive Duane Emeny said the loan would be repaid and asked for a 10-business day extension to work out a payment plan, but warned there was "a significant risk" to the direct Paraparaumu to Auckland service if the council chose to declare the loan in default.
No formal announcement yet from either Air Chathams or local Kāpiti media. Watch this space I guess.
Aviation history is full of airlines that failed after expanding beyond the niche that originally made them successful. Growth isn’t always the answer.
ReplyDeleteAir Chathams built a strong and sustainable business around serving the Chatham Islands, a market where it had a clear advantage.
The lesson is simple: many airlines succeed because they do one thing exceptionally well. Problems often start when they move away from that core business in pursuit of growth. One simply cannot rely on grants, loans, or subsidies to delay the inevitable.
This is the problem. The chathams did NOT sustain itself. Maybe back in the day when you could buy some old bongo for $500k and run a few times a week. But the amount of requirement to run an operation these days is out of control.
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