Originair's extension to Hamilton is an interesting move. Certainly Air New Zealand have not operated Hamilton-Palmerston North since New Zealand went into lockdown in March.
My big question is, Have Air New Zealand definitively given up operating the Hamilton-Palmerston North- Wellington service? I would often use this morning flight to Wellington and occasionally the evening return. I was amazed how many people got off the plane at Palmerston North in the morning... certainly Saab loads every time. The number boarding was never as great but certainly more than a Beech 1900 or Jetstream but they wouldn't fill a Saab.
Originair's flights are not timetabled at all well for business traffic. From their reservation system Originair's new schedule will look as follows...
The Nelson-Palmerston North service seems to be time liked James Air and Avcorp Commuter as of old. The likes of Air Albatross and Eagle Air when they operated Nelson-Palmerston North had a service that suited business people in both centres. Likewise the Palmerston North-Hamilton service is not timed for business people. I looked at it for next month and it would mean two extra nights in Palmerston North. So it will be ZK-CAR for me.
Hamilton-Palmerston North was the only inter-regional route (as opposed as a regional centre to/from major centre) route Air New Zealand operated. I wonder if it has disappeared or this is it!
Bookings are available from Monday 15th February 2021 HLZ-PMR so this will be an interesting one to watch. Although NZ could remove it all together
ReplyDeleteIt does seem a low schedule for a fleet of 3 Jetstreams they could operate a fair bit more. I did read that they might start Nelson to Hamilton next year. Perhaps they could bring back Napier as well. Would make better use of their fleet.
ReplyDeleteECI has not returned to service with Originair... It's only JSH operating their services at present
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