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Air Chathams is cutting back its Norfolk Island service to a seasonal service as detailed in a message sent to Norfolk Island tour operator Pinetree Tours which appears on their Facebook page...
Air Chathams is proud to commit the flagship ATR72-500 aircraft to its Norfolk Island air service providing greater capacity for freight, charters, and tourism offerings. Upon reviewing the demand for the Norfolk Island air service, for both New Zealand and Norfolk Island communities - we will be aligning our scheduled flight service to a seasonal calendar. This means all scheduled flights to Norfolk Island from May to August 2024 will be withdrawn. Charter flights will still be available on request over this period, although enquiries will have to confirm which aircraft they require. The normal weekly Norfolk Island scheduled flights will return from 5th of September 2024. We appreciate our customer’s continued support across the Norfolk Island route, as well as all the destinations Air Chathams connect and serve.
This will be sad news for Norfolk Islanders and travellers to this most fascinating of destinations. It comes after Air Chathams recent review of its Whakatāne schedule as it moves to Saabs. It would seem to suggest there is going to be no spare Saab capacity for the Norfolk flights.
Yet another post about Air Chathams and the reduction to their flight services. It starts to make one think whether or not they’ll be operating this time next year? The only way an airline can make money is to fly their planes. Not park them on the edge of Auckland Airport.
ReplyDeleteDepends on the capital cost of said aircraft. It maybe ok to park it up in terms of costs instead flying them at a loss…
ReplyDeleteI've always struggled to understand why Chats seem to buy aircraft only to park them at Akl Airport. The average fleet ultilisation rate must be super low as every time I'm at the airport (which is daily) most of the fleet is parked on the apron..
ReplyDelete