28 February 2024

Masterton on the cards again?


With the Hood Aerodrome improvement project about to get underway, one airline is already putting its hand up to express an interest in providing an air service. Air Chathams chief operating officer Duane Emeny is enthusiastic about the prospect of launching an air link between Wairarapa and Auckland, saying the airline has always had an interest in the region. “We’ve seen a huge amount of growth in Wairarapa over the past decade,” Emeny said, noting the burgeoning wine and tourism industries and high-profile investment in the area and describing the region as being “on the up and up”. Air Chathams put a bid in for the route after Air New Zealand announced its permanent departure 10 years ago but was unsuccessful, losing out to Vincent Aviation Australia – a venture that failed after the company went into receivership. Four years ago, Air Chathams was asked if it wished to service the region but had to decline because the aerodrome wasn’t certified for the 34-seat Saab aircraft the airline operates, Emeny explained. “The runway was too narrow and the airport itself was not certified,” he said. “We couldn’t operate from there in 2020 as much as we would have liked to.” But now Masterton District Council [MDC] – with government funding assistance, is about to begin the required upgrades and improvements to Hood Aerodrome. Work is expected to start in March with the runway resurfacing and widening, an apron expansion, and the installation of security fencing to help the aerodrome meet CAA qualification certification. Emeny said once this is completed, Air Chathams would have the opportunity to provide an air service for Wairarapa residents again, although there would still be some restrictions due to the runway length – namely, the number of tickets it could sell on flights taking off from Hood Emeny said that while the runway length wouldn’t impact flights landing at the aerodrome, “for take-off, there will be a penalty – we won’t be able to sell 34 seats on that aircraft”. As a result, Air Chathams would look to sell between 27 to 30 seats per flight for take-off from Hood Aerodrome, which would mean a higher price point to make the service viable. “Those are the conversations we are having right now with the district council plus the business community,” Emeny said. Business Wairarapa is currently running a survey to provide tangible evidence of the community’s interest in air travel returning to the region. Emeny also noted that one of the biggest risks to Air Chathams being able to provide a service to Wairarapa will be CAA approval of the runway end safety area. Standard runways have a 240-metre end safety area, although this can sometimes be reduced to 90m, which Emeny noted Kapiti Coast Airport is an example of this. Emeny said the council would need to put a safety case forward to reduce the area from 240m to 90m, which is “still a lot of space if something did go wrong” for the Saab aircraft the airline wishes to operate. Emeny said the public’s response to the survey “shows that there’s a real interest here in this and what we’re proposing”, and added he is keen to build relationships with local companies and see if there is any potential for business connections. “We’re a nice small little niche airline, so we can have conversations with people and if the idea sounds good, we can have a crack.” Air Chathams believes Masterton could operate at a similar capacity to its Whanganui route, Emeny said, although the final results of the survey could determine the future of the air link. “We want people to be honest,” Emeny said. “If they do think it is really important and they do think it can bring those wider economic development benefits to the region, we’re pretty keen to provide a service.”

Source : https://times-age.co.nz/infrastructure/on-the-up-and-up-region-attracts-airlines-interest/

7 comments:

  1. We're Air Chathams not just in the news raising issue about increased charges at AKL and how they may have to cut services, and yet today announce 'possibilities' of launching a new Destination....

    I know it is not an announcement of a new service, and there is a looooong way to go before anything would happen, but one would think
    it was better to focus on retaining existing services (especially with the increased fares that have been talked about) that to entertain the idea of adding a new one.

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  2. There would also be the opportunity to service CHCH and/or NS from MS as well (and cheaper than AA

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  3. It's been a long saga over the years but this time it's looking very promising for the reinstall of services.

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  4. I always find it weird that for the amount of flights air chathams operates, they have an awful amount of aircraft. I'm still wondering why the freight Saab's were purchased as I've never seen them actually leave Auckland airport. it seems most of the fleet just sits at home base....

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    1. It is taking a long time to get the 'new' Saabs online. Plenty of work for the freighters, especially Kaimoana out of the Chats and Fiordland. The charter market is really lucrative and busy for the airline

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  5. Interesting - here at Whanganui Air Chathams operate a wonderful service. However, they surely will need the 'new' Saabs for this. At present my understanding is KRA, CIY and CIZ are kept busy with existing passenger network. CIZ is for sale so at least one of the 'new' ones is going to be needed when CIZ sells. Anyone know how the all Saab Whakatane service is going. i understand the business community were not happy with the new schedule

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    1. The schedule for WHK is absolutely rubbish. Unfortunately I have only flown once on Air Chats since the new Timetable took effect, only 17 pax on that flight. Have had to put all my travel through TRG. It's a pain having to commute to TRG, but having flight options that accommodate a same day return is paramount. It's a real shame, I was always a champion for Air Chathams and the WHK service, using it weekly for a long time. But like others I know in the business community, the schedule is just completely unsuitable for Business. Hopefully in future we may see an overnighting Saab which would open up those options again! :) I still maintain that they are a brilliantly run airline who are excellent to fly/deal with.

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