Napier Farewells Air Chathams

Air Chathams will operate its last flight to Napier today.

Air Chathams first introduced a scheduled service to Napier in October 1991 when Beech 99 ZK-CIB was used to offer a twice times weekly scheduled service to Wellington and a weekly service to Napier. Metroliners later operated the Napier service but with the introduction of the Convair in 1996 Napier was dropped.

A Napier service, using the Convair, was reinstated on the 4th of October 2007 when Auckland was added to the airline's destinations. The Convair called into Napier on east bound flights to the Chathams. Hopes that the service would grow never eventauted, and there has been a consistently low volume of passenger and freight traffic through Napier over the years. The airline feels it can no longer sustain it, hence the decision to withdraw the service with the forthcoming winter timetable. In future the Thursday Air Chathams flight will operate Chathams-Auckland and return direct.

Air Chathams' Convair 580 ZK-CIE at Napier. Photos : John Wegg