3rd Level New Zealand

23 July 2026

Fiordland Flyers... Glenorchy Air

Flying between Queenstown and Milford Sound, Mount Cook or Stewart Island, I was delighted to capture their two Daher Kodiak 100s and their two Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EXs on 10 July 2026

Daher Kodiak 100 ZK-KDI at Milford Sound

Daher Kodiak 100 ZK-KDI back at Queenstown

Daher Kodiak 100 ZK-KDK at Queenstown

Three shots of Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX ZK-MMZ at Milford Sound

Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX ZK-PPR at Milford Sound

22 July 2026

Fiordland Flyers... Southern Alps Air

Flying between Wānaka and Milford Sound, I managed to capture two Southern Alps Air Gippsland GA8 Airvans at Milford Sound on 10 July 2026... They were departing just after we arrived...

ZK-MLF

ZK-WMF

21 July 2026

Air Chathams reinstates some Whanganui flights amid ongoing uncertainty

Air Chathams has reinstated some flights between Whanganui and Auckland, but business remains “bloody tough”.

Chief executive Duane Emeny said three return flights had been reinstated over Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. “It’s not huge, but it’s not bad when you multiply that out by 34 seats per flight,” he said. “Thank God for Whanganui, it’s a shining light in what is otherwise a pretty dismal North Island regional network at the moment.”

The airline announced in April it would reduce flights into Whanganui by 22%, after its monthly fuel costs rose from $500,000 to $1 million because of the Middle East conflict.

Emeny said fuel still cost about 20c per litre more than it did in February.

“I’m expecting there will be another increase next month, maybe 5% to 10%.

“It’s just a tinderbox over there [Iran].

“Anyone who seems to know something is predicting the middle of next year before there’ll be any normality, so that’s what we’re forecasting on.”

Renewed tensions involving Iran earlier this month have added to uncertainty in global fuel markets. Emeny said a $20 base surcharge per flight segment, introduced in March, was still in place.

“We certainly considered [removing it] and if it wasn’t for this latest round of events, we would have looked to ease it back.

“The reality is it hasn’t been very effective anyway,” he said.

“From March onwards, we saw such a softening of demand and people were choosing not to travel.”

A Whanganui Airport update report for April 1 to June 30 said there were 9279 passengers through the terminal over that period, a 23.7% drop on 2025.

“It’s bloody tough out there,” Emeny said.

“Margins are thin at the best of times, and then you have something like this happen.”

He said the only positive to come from the fuel crisis was an “elevated conversation” about regional aviation, especially in Australia. Emeny told the Chronicle in April that the Western Australian Government had pledged $122m to its regional aviation sector through to 2031.

“You have to be able to quantify the value of these regional air links and reframe it,” he said this week.

“Instead of looking at it as individual private businesses doing their thing, what’s the value to New Zealand Inc in having those connections?

“And, what’s the loss if you don’t have them?”

The 10-year anniversary of Air Chathams entering the Whanganui market was coming up, and he would be in the city to meet with the business community, Emeny said. The airline’s first flight touched down on August 1, 2016, shortly after Air New Zealand pulled its Whanganui service

“I’m sure a Christchurch route will be top of mind, and there’ll be a lot of questions about basing Air Chathams in Whanganui.

“It will be nice to get down there and get some face-to-face time and feedback.”

Source: Whanganui Chronicle

20 July 2026

NZ’s regional air routes are under pressure. Is more government intervention the answer?

Air New Zealand’s concerning recent moves to cut some regional flights have come on the back of soaring jet fuel prices. But they also highlight a deeper problem that has been worsening for years.

The aviation industry has long warned of decline within New Zealand’s regional air network, with recent seat capacity on regional routes reportedly well down on pre-pandemic levels.

Last September, months before the crisis in the Middle East piled on more pressure, the government announced it would making available up to $30 million in concessional loans to help keep small regional airlines operating.

No matter how well they are run, however, operators such as Sounds Air, Air Chathams and Originair face an unforgiving economic reality.

Unlike larger airlines, they cannot offset losses on thin regional routes with profits from busier services. Short flights on small aircraft generate relatively little revenue but still incur many of the same operating costs.

This means even modest increases in costs, or slight drops in passenger numbers, can quickly make a route commercially unsustainable.

The ‘thin route problem’

Aviation economists use the term “thin-route problem” to describe routes where passenger numbers are too low to spread the fixed costs of operating a flight.

Services such as Auckland–Kaitaia may carry only a few dozen passengers a day, yet the costs of aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance and air traffic services remain the same, no matter whether the plane is full or half empty. Rising costs also contributed to Sounds Air scrapping its Blenheim–Christchurch service last year.

These short services tend to be less efficient because airplanes spend proportionally more time climbing and descending than cruising, which uses more fuel and increases the cost per passenger.

To maintain nationwide connectivity, the country’s regional air network has long depended on Air New Zealand.

But higher operating costs, ageing aircraft and fleet constraints have all been helping to quietly erode the model. Higher airport charges and increased Civil Aviation Authority levies have added further pressure.

This isn’t just a problem for the aviation industry. For far-flung communities such as Wairoa or the Chatham Islands, fewer flights can mean reduced access to health care, education, tourism and business.

Nor is New Zealand alone in facing these challenges. But other countries are confronting them more directly.

In Australia, the Remote Air Services Subsidy Scheme funds regular flights to remote communities where commercial services are not viable. This helps maintain essential access for hundreds of isolated locations across multiple states, including many First Nations communities.

Norway uses public service obligation contracts, where airlines bid competitively to operate specific regional routes in return for a government subsidy. This ensures essential air links are maintained even when passenger demand is too low to sustain them commercially.

India’s UDAN scheme takes a different approach, using subsidies to make seats on underserved routes more affordable. While its results have been mixed, it reflects the same basic idea: regional air links are a public good, not just a commercial service.

What should NZ do?

To date, New Zealand’s response to this dilemma has largely been reactive, relying on emergency loans to support airlines already under financial pressure.

While this provides short-term relief, it does not address the underlying structural issues. A more durable approach would involve three specific policy shifts.

First, New Zealand could adopt a public service obligation framework for key regional routes.

The government would identify essential air links and competitively tender them to airlines in return for a fixed subsidy, providing certainty for operators while guaranteeing communities reliable connectivity. Longer-term, discounted resident fares, as used in parts of Europe, could also be considered.

Second, targeted regulatory relief for thin routes could improve their viability. A tiered system of Civil Aviation Authority fees and air traffic charges would reduce costs for smaller airlines, while also lowering barriers to new entrants.

Third, better integration between carriers would strengthen the network. More seamless booking systems and baggage transfers would make it easier for passengers to connect between regional and main trunk flights, improving the resilience and usefulness of regional services.

Provincial New Zealand has already seen hospitals centralised, bank branches close and many other services shift online. Air connectivity remains one of the last direct links between smaller communities and the wider national economy.

As that connectivity weakens, regions can become less attractive to skilled workers, less competitive for investment and more vulnerable when emergencies occur.

Regional airports therefore function as more than transport facilities. They enable regional tourism and support local economies.

The thin-route problem is unlikely to be solved by the market alone. But with targeted policy support, New Zealand can preserve a regional air network that serves communities as well as commercial interests.

Source: The Conversation - Tuesday 14th July 2026