Following on from yesterday's news about Originair withdrawing from Taupō, the airline's timetable also shows a reduction in flights to Westport with flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays no longer being offered.
Originair started serving Westport on the 3rd of January 2025 and initially offered 6 flights a week. The schedules offered were not tailored for business customers and the reduction indicates the leisure market isn't enough to sustain the schedule offered.
Yep, watch this one disappear as well. The schedule is just not conducive business travel for us here in Buller. Used to travel on Sounds at least once a week for years. I have only flown the Origin service once. Now I have been driving up to Nelson the night before, staying the night. Flying out to WLG first thing, back to NSN in the evening, and then driving home. Business is busy, and I cannot afford to spend two days in WLG and use the Origin service.
ReplyDeleteI fear out awesome little airport will be left without any airservice soon. And no one can blame Origin, or Sounds Air. It's just the unfortunate reality of operating regional flights on what are very thin routes. Its hard out there, and airlines are not charities.
Their schedule doesn't meet the needs of business commuters or those travelling for healthcare appointments in Wellington. Its unlikely to survive and the poor residents in Buller will be left isolated. The government needs to have a better strategy for smaller regional locations that absolutely rely on airline connectivity
ReplyDeleteWhat the government should do is start an airline, we could call it Air New Zealand (or Air NZ for short) and then have a seat at the table to argue that the airline should serve regional NZ and small isolated centres such as Westport. Maintain the air links for the good of the country. Yes some of these routes would run at a loss but they could be subsidised by the heavily profitable main trunk routes.
ReplyDeleteIt's very hard yakka for small, privately owned airlines to operate into the marginal townships when they don't have the financial backing like the big airlines do. Unfortunately we will see more and more small towns lose their air link. I know that's the way it is overseas, but NZ is unique in its population distribution, lack of long distance public transport and difficult geography (see: Southern Alps and Cook Strait), it means the air links are more valuable. How else can you get from Westport to Wellington in less than an hour? Takes 3 hours to drive to Nelson or 2 to Hokitika to catch a plane if it loses its air service!
Just my 2 cents.
Yea i agree totally. Maybe start an Arline called National Airways Corportation or NAC for short. I'd even suggest a Godwit as the logo. And yea fly to the regions. I want to be able to fly to Timaru or Greymouth or Taupo. I don't know why our National airline can't have some smaller aircraft for these routes and fly them...
DeleteIncreasingly evident the public don’t have the appetite to pay the fares required to operate low density air services.
DeleteThere’s a lot of complaining the schedules don’t work for business travellers, but that would require overnighting air crew, which would further increase the cost of fares on the flight, that the public on multiple platforms are already vocal is unaffordable. It’s keeps going in circles
My honest opinion regarding Taupo and especially for all "third level" carriers in NZ...
ReplyDeleteFor Taupo, that Wellington service is business/government first and foremost and leisure a distant second and that service needs the business timing of. First flight in the morning leaving around 6-7am and last flight at night at around 5.30-8pm.
That was reflected in both Air NZ Air Nelson/Eagle air metro/B1900s three services a day with a midday flight and that was what Sounds air operated as well. With Sounds air realising very early on that anything else was a loss with their initial services operating a mid morning and mid afternoon flight. Which was quickly dropped or, only used when demand was there.
Sounds air, like air nz had the ability to utilize their Pc12 aircraft throughout the network with Sounds air regular hops over the Cook strait between those key hours.
The downfall with Sounds was purely those running economics of those 9 seat high performance Pc12 which, in reality, their mission/operations are VIP/government subsidised medical aircraft first and foremost and they certainly did not offer any ability to grow nor share the cost with offering reduced airfares. When those aircraft, which is essentially the reason why Sounds dropped those routes became expensive to run through fuel and issues with parts, like what air nz are currently experiencing.
Enter Origin and Air Chathams..
Origin failed on the Taupo route, as mentioned, simply because they couldn't commit an overnight crew for those first/last flight of the day schedules that the community want/needs... Same with Air Chats as well and both airlines have the same issue... Lack of aircraft numbers to dedicate to their respective services and the pure business case of buying another aircraft and basically having an expensive and old aircraft type just sitting around occuring airport fees be it Wellington or Auckland, and no other schedules to place that aircraft on to be making money...
I think..., and hear me out..
I wonder if there is any ability for Air chats, sounds air (I don't think it would work as there is some clause I have read that, Star alliance aircraft need a toilet and being a twin engine aircraft, especially for codeshares etc..) and Origin to have some sort, not only an interline agreement but some way of, be it a air nz aircraft that's gone tech or on 'off-peak" air nz services. For Air NZ to utilize these airlines aircraft on their own services, effectively like what we had with Air Nelson, Mount Cook and Eagle air but.. Without these airlines effectively becoming "subsidiaries" and that these airlines keep their identity/livery first and foremost but Air NZ allows these airlines to use their aircraft on Air NZ routes and keeping these aircraft working between their own schedule and earning money.
Also...
By allowing these airlines access to the international market through "through fares" with Air NZs own international network at the very least, would absolutely make it for these airlines.
All these airlines need, is the required aircraft to make these routes that Air NZ dont want...., Potentially other routes that Air NZ may drop at some point in the near future but allow these aircraft to be utilized on their own network to supplement low peak times or whatever...
If Air nz even looks to "donating at a written off price" their older Dash 8s to these airlines and has some sort of shared maintenance agreement... Whakatane, Wellington to Taupo and even the Westport routes could grow with the low overheads on these smaller airlines, the ability to offer lower seat lead in airfares through the 40 odd seats and try grow the more leisure/tourism market.
I feel that aviation as a whole would prosper in NZ.
Fact check....where on earth did you come up with the idea that Soundsair's mission first and foremost was supporting VIP's and it had government subsidised medical aircraft?? What nonsense...
DeleteI think what he is writing about was what PC12s are used for internationally rather than the Sounds Air operation
DeleteWhich I would still call a rubbish statement. PC12s are widely used as Commuter/Pax Aircraft right around the world. Look at Boutique Air over in the States. Hordes of operators using them for Pax Transport
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DeleteIn a nutshell..
ReplyDeleteCan Air New Zealand lawfully and in a way that it benefits them as an airline and for the local carriers that operate on current routes that Air NZ dont operate/used to..
Allow the use of these airlines current aircraft in the name of J32 and Saab 340s on their own routes in times of...,
A) Aircraft gone on last minute tech
B) on routes that reflect last minute seating numbers that don't need the 50 seat Dash 8/one off events i.e festivals
C) on routes that are off-peak under air NZ but sold under the individual airline that would use their own metal on
D) For a underwritten/paid off its cost price (effectively donate) a couple of Dash 8 and share the maintenance cost to these airlines so that they are using more modern aircraft to be used on their own routes as well as filling in for Air NZ for times of need as mentioned in above examples.
E) allow access to AIr NZs full network including international routes operated with AIr NZ's metal
F) Allow these airlines to operate under their own airline/livery without any "subsidiary" connection as such.
G) For any future current Air NZ routes to be effectively dropped to be handed over to the respected airline that has its home base in that main center that, that route is no longer operating i.e Air chats would take over a Auckland Gisborne route as it's home base is in Auckland
I mean, Air NZ has no lawful responsibilities for these airlines to survive but, morally and especially for the routes Air NZ no longer sees beneficial to its network, they do kinda have a "moral" responsibility for these airlines to have a chance to survive and to provide a service and give these communities a chance to have a air connection. For aviation as a whole and even going down to pilot training/stepping stone, these small airlines do have a worth/value to Air NZ as a whole.