air2there Increase in Services

In doing the post on timetables (above) I noted air2there have increased their services between Blenheim and Wellington to three a day (only 2 on Saturday) though with one of the southbound flights going via Paraparaumu. They have also added a second flight between Paraparaumu and Nelson each Friday.

air2there's Cessna Grand Caravan ZK-MYH at Nelson on 17 April 2009. I had just flown on it from Paraparaumu.... a great trip. Photo : S Lowe

Q300 Emergency Landing at PMR

20 May 2010 - Another emergency declared
In the second emergency to be declared in as many days, airport emergency services were on alert again this afternoon for an Air New Zealand Q300. The crew called for a local 'standby' alert after experiencing electrical problems at around 2:15pm today. Airport operations manager Roy Bodell said the aircraft with 39 passengers onboard landed without further incident and emergency services were able to be stood down quite quickly.

Levy for Stewart Island Flights' Passengers?

There has been debate for some time about departure taxesat various New Zealand airports... It seems the next to have something similar will be Stewart Island. Understandably Stewart Island Flights are not too happy...

27 April 2010 - Stewart Is levy step closer

Source : Dan Hutchinson, http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3625152/Stewart-Is-levy-step-closer

Stewart Island will have a visitors' levy imposed by the end of the year if a new law is approved. However, one of the two companies expected to collect the levy opposes it. Invercargill MP Eric Roy introduced a member's bill into Parliament on Thursday that would give the Southland District Council the power to charge visitors to Stewart Island. Mr Roy said a fee of about $5 would be charged to each visitor to the island via the ferry service (Stewart Island Experience) or Stewart Island Flights. Stewart Island Flights managing director Raymond Hector said the company was opposed to the idea. He said the company would be expected to administer the scheme and pay the GST on the extra $5 with no reimbursement. The fee will be used to help pay for infrastructure on the island that is used by visitors. The cost of things like toilets, walking tracks and other amenities is currently paid for by fewer than 400 locals. Council chief executive Dave Adamson said there was some leeway in the legislation to use part of the levy to cover the administration costs. He said passing the levy into law was necessary to ensure it was a cost that was added evenly to both transport providers. About 40,000 people visit the island each year and the levy should raise about $160,000, shaving hundreds of dollars off the rates bill of each resident. Residents, property and business owners on the island would be exempt from the charge. The Southland District Council (Stewart Island/Rakiura Visitor Levy) Empowering Act 2010 would enable the council to impose fees via contract arrangements with the transport operators. "We have a captive situation here where people either come by boats or aeroplanes," Mr Roy said. He said he had been working with the community on the issue since 1994 and most people supported it. It was not proposed to compensate the transport operators for collecting the levy although they would earn interest off the money before it was due to be passed on.

Soundsair Tasman Sojourn Explained

Thanks to the comment left on the earlier post the following seems to explain the departure of Soundsair's Caravan ZK-SAA's departure for Australia. Given it seems to be staying NZ registered it looks as if SAA will back after her Aussie holiday

Source : http://afap.org.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?id=98&nav_cat_id=127&nav_top_id=73

30 APRIL 2010

C208b

Due to increased demand Kakadu Air Services are looking for an additional C208B/twin driver to assist our growing Darwin base.

Minimum required:

300+hrs C208
1000+hrs Total
Preferred:

C310 and C402 endorsed
Ga8 or 200 series time
MECIR
NZ and Aus Licence
The successful candidate will work closely with our Senior Base Pilot Darwin to establish our Darwin scenic routes. Due to use of ZK registered aircraft the ability to hold or held a NZ CAA and Australian licence would be advantageous. Pay as per award, start mid May.

NZ's Northern Most Airline... Air Kaitaia

In December 2000, Air Kaitaia, a subsidiary of Mountain Air, commenced a six month trial of a Monday to Friday air service between Kaitaia and Auckland using a Piper Aztec. Two flights were offered each day, leaving Auckland at 5.00am and 4.30pm. The return services left Kaitaia at 7.00am and 6.00pm. In June 2001 the NZ Herald noted that the trial of the service had been extended. The report also noted that a larger Britten-Norman Islander was used when demand warranted and, because of the lack of runway lights at Kaitaia, the arrival or the morning flight in Kaitaia had to be delayed until after dawn. The service was not a great success, however, and in October 2003 the company conceded defeat. The managing director, Keith McKenzie told the NZ Herald the service “was never enough to pay the bills. The company had persisted for as long as it was able to, but maintaining the service, even after reducing it from five days a week to two, became too much of a financial burden. With losses into six figures, and no sign of improvement on the horizon, the decision to pull the plug had been taken, albeit with real reluctance.”

Piper Aztec ZK-PIW with Air Kaitaia's markings at Auckland on 30 November 2000

Soundsair Tasman Sojourn

Noted going through Auckland today was Soundsair's C208 Grand Caravan ZK-SAA which headed off to Norfolk and Lord Howe. Tomorrow it is apparently going to Coolangatta. I wonder what it is up to? Any theories or inside knowledge out there?

Sunair's Version of the Napier Incident

The NZ Herald carried a far different story to what the Hawkes Bay Today newspaper reported... this article has the Sunair version...

Source : http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/local/news/lead-story-plane-nose-dives-in-hb/3914275/

A standard training flight turned into a runway drama at Hawke's Bay Airport last night when a "misunderstanding" between a senior commercial pilot and a trainee saw their Piper Aztec aircraft go nose down. The aircraft, operated by Tauranga-based Sunair Aviation, was on a night-training programme with just the two pilots aboard. Today, the airline's chief executive officer, Dan Power, said early reports it was a passenger flight with one passenger aboard were incorrect. The senior pilot is understood to be Napier-based, while the trainee was from Hamilton. Mr Power said the night flight had been going well and there had been no technical problems before the "bit of a mishap". He described it as "a misunderstanding between the two pilots" which led to a mishandling of the front-nose wheel. The twin-engined aircraft was landing just before 9pm when the incident happened. Mr Power said the pilots had reacted quickly to bring the aircraft to a halt and were uninjured. Emergency services raced to the airport and closed the stretch of runway. The aircraft was checked for leaking fuel and fluids and found to be all clear. It was removed by Flightcare engineers last night and was being assessed at their workshop this morning. Mr Power described the damage as minor and expected the aircraft to be out of action for two to three weeks. He said Sunair operated nine of the twin-engined aircraft so scheduled passenger services would not be affected by the incident. The pilots were scheduled to meet with company officials for a debriefing today. The police had referred the incident to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Sunair Ouch!

Source : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10645722

Three people escaped injury last night after the nose wheel on this small plane failed to come down - forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at Hawkes Bay Airport. Emergency services responded just after 9pm to calls saying a plane had crashed. However, when police, fire and ambulance staff arrived, they found that no one had been injured. A man who saw the plane minutes before the crash-landing said it appeared the front wheel had collapsed. "The aircraft kept circling for a long time, so it looked like something was going to happen." A fire crew remained at the scene for about two hours as a safety precaution. Police spokesman Inspector Paul Jermy said the incident "certainly would have been frightening" for the people on board the plane.

Bird Strike at NPL

14 May 2009

Source : http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/3695893/Birdstrike-brings-plane-to-stop

An Air New Zealand plane leaving New Plymouth airport had to abort the flight after hitting birds as it set to take off yesterday. The Auckland-bound plane hit the birds while powering down the runway just before 7am. "We were told a truck was going to get rid of the birds, but then when we went down the runway we felt the plane power down and the plane came to a halt," passenger Phil Pearson said. "Then my wife noticed the dead birds on the runway and we figured out what happened." After hitting the birds, thought to be a flock of gulls, the plane was then grounded for most of the morning while an aircraft engineer inspected it for damage. Passengers had to either find alternative flights, or wait for the plane to be fixed if they could not sort something out. Mr Pearson could not find a new flight in time so missed his connecting plane to Sydney. "It's a bit frustrating, I'm supposed to be at work today," he said. "But we weren't quick enough up to the counter." Other passengers were worse off, however, as some had missed connecting flights with other airlines and could not get refunds, Mr Pearson said. "Some of them could lose a lot of money from this." An Air New Zealand spokesman said bird strike was a very rare event, but one that meant the plane had to be checked extensively. The birds could have damaged the body or the propellers, he said. Dead birds had been cleared off the runway immediately. It was thought only three or four birds had been killed in the accident.

Widgeons - Their Service to Stewart Island

Following on the piece about Southern Air, for those interested in Widegons and the air service to Stewart Island a nice piece can be found in the June 2006 of the Stewart Island News...

http://www.stewart-island-news.com/files/JUNE06.pdf

Wellington Emergency...

Source : http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3702351/Engine-alert-causes-Wellington-Airport-runway-closure

Is the headline a bit melodramatic??? Surely an emergency or precautionary landing would have priority?! Perhaps a more realistic headline might be "Aircraft Lands Safely" but then that might not sell news...

Engine alert causes Wellington Airport runway closure

A fire warning indication light sparked an alert on an aircraft about to land at Wellington early this afternoon, leading to the closure of the runway. Pilots on Mount Cook flight NZ5038 from Dunedin to Wellington were alerted to a fire warning light just before touchdown. "Following standard operating procedures the pilots requested the airport fire service to inspect the aircraft," an airline spokeswoman said. "The ATR aircraft landed without incident and the engine was shut down on the runway. There was no evidence of smoke or fire." An inspection by engineers also found no trace of fire. Once checked the plane taxied to the gate for 61 passengers to disembark. The aircraft was now undergoing further inspections.

flyDirect Markings for ZK-VAC

The following is a comment from flyDirect on their Facebook site this week... So, heads up, cameras ready

flyDirect Yep - sure is photoshopped Michael. Our real planes will be ready soon!! We'll make sure you're one of the first to see a photo :)

Westport News puts local airfares and reliability under spotlight again

Source : Westport News, 7 May 2010

Flights to Oz cheaper than to Wgtn Flying to Sydney may cost you less than flying from Westport to Wellington, with enough money left over to buy a decent book at the airport. Air New Zealand’s (Air NZ) sale on flights to Sydney from Christchurch closed at midnight yesterday. The News picked a few dates and compared the cost of a return flight from Christchurch to Sydney with the cost of a return flight from Westport to Wellington. Leaving Christchurch for Sydney on Friday, August 20 and returning Monday, August 23 would cost you just $178 (seat only). Travelling between Westport and Wellington on the same days would cost $238 return at the cheapest fare (smart saver). Air NZ spokeswoman Tracy Mills said the special promotion to Sydney cost only $89 each way because it was a seat only airfare. The cheapest year-round airfare for Christchurch to Sydney, seat only, was $169 each way, while the cheapest year-round airfare for Westport to Wellington was $79 one way, including a checked bag. However, The News couldn’t find a $79 fare from Westport to Wellington till May 23, over two weeks away. You would have to wait till June 16 to return to Westport for $79. If you urgently needed to get to Wellington today you would have to fork out $239 one way. Ms Mills said Air NZ’s fare pricing was based on a number of factors including volume, demand and capacity. Pricing on the main domestic jet routes was generally lower because the higher number of seats reduced the operational cost per seat. “We continue to reduce the cost of travel from all of our domestic ports, including Westport,” she said. Air NZ’s regional fare reductions, announced in October last year, included cutting fares between Westport and Wellington, she said. Smart saver fares dropped 6 per cent to $79. Ms Mills said Westport’s service to Wellington was not under threat. “Air New Zealand continues to monitor all of our routes to ensure we are matching capacity to demand, however we have no current plans to reduce flights out of Westport.” Community support was the key to maintain regional route like Westport’s.
Service reduced
Many Westport travellers now drive to Nelson or Christchurch to catch air flights because flights are cheaper, more frequent and less likely to be cancelled. Local patronage grew strongly after Air NZ increased its Westport to Wellington flights from seven to 12 a week in February 2007. However since mid-2008, patronage has declined mainly due to the economic recession, according to Air NZ. Demand for the service fell by 2 - 3 percent last year. Air NZ cancelled 40 flights from Westport to Wellington over 2008-09. Thirty-nine cancellations were for bad weather and one for an engineering problem. However 94 percent of the scheduled flights had gone ahead. This compared to 97 percent from Christchurch and 99 percent from Nelson, for Air NZ’s regional airlines (Eagle Air, Air Nelson, Mt Cook). Nationally, 97.5 percent of regional flights went ahead.

Cheap Seats to the Provinces Every Wednesday and Thursday

This is a days old but nonetheless interesting...

Source : http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/3595157/Lucky-few-snap-up-cheap-Invercargill-flights

Some lucky Southlanders will be jetting around the country and overseas on cheap seats they managed to snap up on the Air New Zealand website on Thursday. All the deals on the Grabaseat site that day were devoted to flights to or from Invercargill. Grabaseat manager Duane Perrott said the focus on one centre was part of a push to concentrate on provincial centres on Wednesday and Thursday each week. An alert from the airline said: "We get a lot of constructive criticism at Grabaseat that we look after the main centres too much." Its solution was to launch the midweek promotion. The number of times centres such as Invercargill and Queenstown appeared on the website fluctuated greatly, Mr Perrott said. "Sometimes you might see them four times a week, other times they might only come up once every couple of weeks. It just depends on the capacity, the seats available on each flight." The Invercargill spots had sold well, he said. "They went a lot quicker than we would usually expect." However, international deals – from Invercargill to Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tonga, Brisbane and Melbourne – had been slower to sell. Deals from Queenstown the day before had also not sold as well, Mr Perrot said. "But what we're kind of putting that down to is that it was the first day of the promotion, so people weren't as aware of it. "We think it will really start snowballing each Wednesday and Thursday as we get further into it," he said. While there were still some weeks until the promotion finishes in June, it was unlikely Invercargill and Queenstown would pop up again. "We're trying to get round all the regions, so in this particular promotion they've probably had their go," he said. However, if the promotion remained successful, Air New Zealand would look at making it a regular thing, he said.

Mount Cook Airlines - The First Airliner

After looking at the first aircraft in both Eagle Air's (http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2010/04/eagle-beech.html) and Air Nelson's 'airliner' fleet (http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2010/05/air-nelson-no-1.html) it is now the turn of the third of the Link carriers, Mount Cook Airlines.

Douglas DC-3C VH-ANU (c/n 13521 arrived in New Zealand from Australia on the 14th of June 1955. It was registered to the New Zealand National Airways Corporation as ZK-BKD and was named 'Kotare.' BKD was subsequently leased to Mount Cook & Southern Lakes Tourist Co Ltd on the 16th of October 1961.

Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Co DC-3 ZK-BKD at Christchurch. Photo : D White

According to Mount Cook’s Harry Wigley in his book “Skiplane Adventure,” the airline operation commenced on 1 November 1961. The service had been planned for three years and when it began it operated from Christchurch into Mount Cook (with an alternate airfield constructed at Glen Cairn Station for the days when weather conditions meant flights couldn’t operate to Mount Cook), Cromwell (this airfield was constructed by locals eager for an air service) and Manapouri. Queenstown Airport was operated by the local bodies and the Civil Aviation Division and these were slow to prepare the airport for DC-3s. It was not until 1965 that DC-3s finally started operating to Queenstown.

Returning back to ZK-BKD, it was returned to NAC for sale to Fieldair in July 1970. Fieldair converted it for topdressing and it was used in this role from August 1971 until January 1983. BKD still exists today but sadly it is languishing at Gisborne after having been used for some time as the 'Smash Palace Wine Bar'... For other photos of ZK-BKD see http://rnzaf.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=civil&action=print&thread=10428 and look for BKD or http://www.kiwibeavers.com/BKD.html.

Mount Cook Airlines operated three other DC-3s...

ZK-AOD, Douglas C-47B-20-DK (c/n 15701/27146) was registered to Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Co. on 02 November 1964. It went to Fieldair on 17 November 1972.

ZK-BEU, Douglas C-47A-20-DK (c/n 13099) was registered to Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Company 25 June 1970. It was retired from airline service 16 May 1978

ZK-CAW, Douglas C-47A-65-DL. (c/n 18923) was leased to Mount Cook Airlines -5 August 1969 and went to South Seas Airways Ltd, Auckland - May 7, 1971