Air Chathams' Whanganui Birthday

In one year Air Chathams has become so much a part of the Whanganui community it now pays rates. A small celebration at Whanganui Airport on Tuesday marked one year since the family-owned airline took over the Whanganui to Auckland route following Air New Zealand's shock departure from the city. Air Chathams chief executive Craig Emeny and general manager Duane Emeny piloted a flight which arrived in Whanganui at 9.30am to join the celebrations. And Duane Emeny told the Chronicle the family-owned airline was here to stay. "It's very unusual for a new aviation route structure to make money in its first few months. "But we've been able to control our costs and be very practical with the way we operate and we're very positive about how it's moving forward. "As of two weeks ago Air Chathams is officially a ratepayer in Whanganui, we've bought a house here, so if that isn't a big vote of confidence in the area I don't know what is." Mr Emeny said it became obvious early on that the smaller aircraft it had originally planned for the route wouldn't be enough. "That's when we invested in the Saab 340. And that's been a great success for us. It's really allowed us to develop the route and provide that type of service that the business customers in Whanganui really need." Since its first flight on August 1 last year Air Chathams has made 1840-plus trips, carrying about 41,000 passengers. Mr Emeny reflected the quick decision to take up the route just days after Air New Zealand pulled out was "an interesting time". "Obviously we were just sort of building and developing the Whakatane route, and Whanganui sort of came out of nowhere. "We saw it as a massive opportunity. A bigger population and it's a route that's been established since the early 1950s." Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall said there was brief panic in Whanganui when Air New Zealand announced it would no longer be flying to Whanganui. "[Then mayor] Annette Main rushed to Parliament to try and convince the Minister of Transport it was wrong," he said. "It left Whanganui really unstable for 24 hours and then this knight in shining armour came over the horizon." Mr McDouall said Air Chathams had quickly become part of the community. "They engage with the business community, they got the entire community on board with things like the Ranfurly Shield flight and they participated in heritage weekend. It's been a year. I think it'll be a decade or more." Among the cake and celebrations on Tuesday resident and passenger Liz Clark was at the departure gates to see off family. She said not having to drive to Palmerston North to catch a flight was important. "You can come here, get straight on, it saves you an hour travelling and come straight home again. It really is great having it here and long may it last." Whanganui and Partners destination strategic lead Lyn Cheyne said with tourism numbers in Whanganui on the rise an Auckland to Whanganui air service was vital. "A lot of the travel on Air Chathams is business travel but we will be seeing an increase in holiday visits and people coming down to see friends and family." Meanwhile, Whanganui Airport manager Allan MacGibbon said having Air Chathams flying in and out of the city was a boost to the airport. "I mean, this airport belongs to the Whanganui community so it's really about Whanganui. We're here to provide facilities so air services can be provided. But if they weren't here it would be pretty difficult to justify keeping things at the level we do."

A video clip of Duane Emeny can be found at : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11897515

Summer Flight Expansion

Air New Zealand is gearing up for a bumper summer, adding more flights to its domestic schedule to deliver 180,000 extra seats between November 2017 and March 2018, compared with the same period last year. The extra flights will use the airline's existing domestic fleet to meet traveller demand over the summer. Air New Zealand expects to sell up to a million seats for less than $100 over the same period. Key destinations to receive a boost include the busy Auckland and Queenstown route where there'll be nearly 60,000 extra seats. The airline is planning to add an average of eight additional return services a week to and from the resort town. An average of six additional return Auckland-Christchurch services per week will deliver more than 40,000 extra seats on the route. Moving from two to three daily A320 jet services on the airline's Auckland-Dunedin route on Tuesday and Thursday will see three jet services operate six days a week resulting in capacity on the route growing by 10% or 12,000 seats, and Auckland-Wellington will gain an extra 10,000 seats. There will also be significant seat capacity increases across Air New Zealand's regional network as follows:

Auckland-Nelson 16,500 extra seats
Auckland-Tauranga 13,800 extra seats
Auckland-Napier 12,800 extra seats
Auckland-Palmerston North 7,300 extra seats
Auckland-Kerikeri 4,900 extra seats
Auckland-New Plymouth 2,800 extra seats
Auckland-Taupo 2,100 extra seats

Air New Zealand's Chief Revenue Officer, Cam Wallace, says the additional seat capacity is in response to growing customer demand. "We're responding to growing customer demand with 180,000 more seats across our domestic ports this summer. Not only does this create more flight options for our customers, it means more of our lowest fares will be on offer. In fact we expect to sell up to a million seats for less than $100. "We are committed to operating a comprehensive schedule throughout New Zealand and have invested significantly in delivering a service which will benefit both visitors and locals over the summer months." The additional flights are being progressively released for sale.

Source : https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/press-release-2017-air-nz-gears-up-for-summer-with-more-than-180000-extra-seats

July pics

Not many photos for July...

Piper PA31 Navajo ZK-LWN was at Tauranga on 3 July 2017

One of the newer Pacific Aerospace 750XLs, ZK-KEB at Hamilton on 23 July 2017

A couple of photos at Hamilton on, ATR 72-600 ZK-MVM at Hamilton on 23 July 2017...

...and while I was waiting my flight home, at Wellington on 26 July 2017.

Back at Hamilton, ATR 72-600 ZK-MVA was awaiting its passengers

Back over at Tauranga on 28 July 2017, Bombardier Q300 ZK-NEA was backtracking for departure.

On the same day I caught a couple of new gyrocopters for me... Magni Gyro M24C ZK-PLW 

...and Solo Wings'  AutoGyro MTOsport ZK-SWR

 And finally, my first photo of a Raytheon T-6 C-Texan II - NZ1407 at Tauranga on on 28 July 2017

 

Fancy a good read???

I have just finished reading Flying the Knife Edge: New Guinea Bush Pilot by Gisborne-born Matt McLaughlin who now flies for Cathay Pacific. While not a book not so much about New Zealand aviation it is a easy, can't put it down book. It can easily be purchased on line.

OSH gone mad...

I like being safe and feeling but increasingly the OSH business (and I mean business) is getting farcical. On my last flight I was told, "I'm sorry sir, your camera is too big to hold on to... you are going to have to stow it."

Meanwhile, in happier days when I was allowed to hold and use my big camera these are some of the shots I took...

Looking to Baring Head

Baring Head lighthouse

Looking up Wellington Harbour

Looking back to the South Island in the distance

Wellington International

 

Petone

The Pauatahanui Arm of Porirua Harbour

Paraparaumu Airport

Paraparaumu and Waikanae

Kapiti Island

My apologies if my unsafe photography offended you

A look at the IT behind Sounds Air

One of the major benefits New Zealand-based Sounds Air has seen from becoming an early adopter of the Takeflite airline enterprise software suite is the dramatic improvement in capability the suite’s maintenance control module has given the carrier in managing its maintenance operations. So says Andrew Crawford, managing director and majority owner of Sounds Air, which is based at the resort town of Picton in the scenic, winemaking region of Marlborough in the northeast part of New Zealand’s South Island. Speaking at the recent Caribbean Aviation Meetup conference in Sint Maarten, Crawford said that for the first 17 years of its existence, from 1987 until 2005, Sounds Air handled all its bookings by means of an Excel spreadsheet and passengers could only book tickets outside normal business hours by leaving a message on Sounds Air’s answering machine with their credit card details. Having bought a majority share in the airline in 2003, at which point it was carrying just 14,000 passengers a year, Crawford realized a more sophisticated IT infrastructure could help Sounds Air grow its bookings--and the rest of its business. It so happened that a local IT expert, a director of Takeflite Solutions, the developer of the Takeflite suite, was a frequent passenger on Sounds Air. This familiarity provided a natural entrée for Crawford and Takeflite to discuss having the young company develop a reservation system specifically for the airline. Its new reservations system immediately began transforming Sounds Air’s business and Crawford describes Takeflite’s IT suite as “an airline in a box.” By 2008, when the carrier launched its own website to allow 24/7/365 online booking, Crawford, who saw so much benefit for Sounds Air in Takeflite’s IT products that he became an investor in the company, decided also to have Takeflite develop a maintenance control IT suite for the carrier. “Previously, we had outsourced our maintenance--we had no control of it and every bill was like a hand grenade” in its potential for being financially hurtful, says Crawford. In not having control of when and exactly how much maintenance work was being performed on its Pilatus PC-12 and Cessna Caravan aircraft and engines, Sounds Air had no idea how large any given maintenance invoice was going to be. Nor could it schedule maintenance reliably. As with its previous reservations system, Sounds Air’s only means of providing any control of its maintenance scheduling was to use an Excel spreadsheet format. This didn’t allow the airline’s managers to drag and drop flights to rearrange the utilization of each aircraft in its fleet, so the system provided “little flexibility for change” and rearranging an aircraft scheduling took a week on average, according to Crawford.  “Now we can do it in 1.5-hours,” he says. “The solution was to build a system off the same [Takeflite] operations database,” which by 2008 was running Sounds Air’s entire ticketing, baggage control and reservations functions. Its new maintenance control system gave Sounds Air the ability to record and manage “the complete maintenance history of the aircraft,” adds Crawford. Today, Sounds Air’s maintenance philosophy is to “always have one aircraft on the ground,” so that it can constantly keep nine of the 10 aircraft flying on revenue scheduled and charter flights. After adding its in-house maintenance control system, Sounds Air decided to take direct control of a large part of its aircraft maintenance by creating a subsidiary called Sounds Aero Maintenance to perform all the airframe maintenance required on the three Cessna 208B Grand Caravans and two Cessna 208 Caravans it operates. Sounds Air doesn’t handle the airframe maintenance on the five Pilatus PC-12s it also flies: this is performed by a Pilatus Maintenance Centre at an airport serving another New Zealand town. However, because Pilatus has publicly discussed providing fixed-price maintenance for its new PC-24 light business jet, Sounds Air has asked Pilatus to offer a similar fixed-price maintenance service for its PC-12s. “We’re talking to Pilatus about maintenance by the hour, because variable-price maintenance is very difficult [to manage] for a small business that is privately owned,” says Crawford. After setting up its own maintenance operation, Sounds Air decided quickly not to handle its own engine overhauls. “We did one and it saved us $50,000, but it was a nightmare in terms of the stress it caused us,” says Crawford. Now, although each of Sounds Air’s PT6A-114 and PT6A-114A engines is overhauled to Pratt & Whitney Canada’s 8,000-hour life extension program standard, “we never get to 8,000 hours. At 7,300 hours we give them back to Pratt & Whitney Canada on its engine exchange program.” In the past few years Sounds Air has added further Takeflite modules to manage additional aspects of its operations, such as cargo sales and global distribution system participation; and today Takeflite Solutions boasts more than 70 airline and MRO-industry clients worldwide.

Source : http://www.mro-network.com/airlines/sounds-air-takes-control-its-mro

More Blenheim Disquiet

In recent days there has been a bit of flak from Sounds Air about Jetstar's pricing tactics and how this is eroding their Nelson flights. Now Blenheim people are saying they want the same fares Jetstar and Air NZ are offering out of Nelson. The point forgotten is no one makes a profit on the super cheap fares. They are part of a wider strategy to get people flying and fill empty seats. In the end the airline has to make a profit to survive. When an air fare war is going on airlines will take a hit to keep market share. However, there is a unrealistic presumption that Air NZ, in particular, has to offer loss making fares all the time, everywhere over its domestic network. This is simply unrealistic. So what do you make out of this piece?

Marlborough residents feeling short-changed by the cost of air fares have vented their frustration at Air New Zealand. The national carrier was accused of charging exorbitant prices, with many at a fiery public meeting sharing stories of the 90-minute drive to Nelson in search of cheaper fares. But a representative for the airline said the pricing structure in Blenheim was no different to other parts of the country, and fares were cheaper than they had been. Air New Zealand phased out the use of its 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D aircraft last year, months before pulling direct flights between Blenheim and Christchurch. Air NZ head of government and industry affairs Duncan Small said phasing out the smaller aircraft meant residents should be seeing lower prices. "I can say that you are experiencing significantly lower fares now than you were when we were running into Marlborough with the 19-seater aircraft," he said. The remark drew a murmur of objection from the more than 70-strong crowd on Tuesday. "It's almost like we've offended Air New Zealand somehow and they're making us pay," one man said. Blenheim woman Helen Smale said she felt the airline was paying lip service to the regions, but had not stepped in to reinstate direct flights to Christchurch after the earthquake. "Our region was affected quite badly in the earthquake. New Zealanders all pull together when things get tough, and you're certainly not doing that for us," she said. Her husband Tony Smale claimed flights between Blenheim and Auckland were roughly two-and-a-half times more expensive than flying from Nelson, which was also serviced by Jetstar. "It looks to us like we are subsidising the competitive nature of that route, because the differences are astonishing," he said. "Auckland is really important for us and we are just getting bowled over by it. It's just ridiculous that we can take time and expense to drive to Nelson and it's still cheaper." Smale came to the meeting armed with print-offs comparing the price of a return flight to Auckland from Nelson and Marlborough airports, leaving August 9 and returning August 11. The cheapest fare leaving Marlborough was $139; coming back was $159. The cheapest fare leaving Nelson was $59; the same price as the returning flight. However, Small refuted the claim prices were two-and-a-half times more expensive, saying the amount of lower price fares was down to capacity, and there was more capacity between Nelson and Auckland. "Your fares are not differently structured or out of whack, and your loadings are not out of whack with anywhere else in the country," he said. He was also emphatic that Air New Zealand would not be reinstating direct flights to Christchurch, saying they did not want to create uncertainty for other operators by jumping in and out. Attendees also spoke of the impact of air fares. One man claimed an exporting business was considering relocating to Christchurch because of the cost of flights in and out of Marlborough. Another said high air fares meant tourists were more likely to bypass Marlborough. "I hear what the room is telling me," Small said towards the end of the meeting. "You haven't offended us, and I can promise you that we're not going anywhere out of this market. We fly more seats into Marlborough now than ever before."

More Reliable Service, More Passengers

The performance and reliability of Air New Zealand services out of and into Kapiti Coast Airport has improved considerably. Air New Zealand regional manager Ian Collier said the company accepted the criticism of many people who had said they couldn't rely on the local service. But the company had been working hard to address the issue and "the performance is improving and we will continue to deliver that," he said at a business briefing in Paraparaumu on Wednesday. Proof of improvements came from an audience member, Maurice Stilwell, who said, "I use it about every two weeks and the service has improved remarkably for the last six months. "I'd trust you with my holiday - just about." And Kapiti councillor Mark Benton said, "I use the service about once every three months and it's bloody brilliant. "Thanks very much and it's fantastic I don't have have to drive to Wellington." Mr Collier said Air New Zealand was happy with demand for its Paraparaumu air services though it could be better as it had been "flat for too long" however it was "cutting its lunch. So that is a good thing." Some of the challenges had included pressure from other airports and passengers decisions on their time and how much they were willing to pay. "Our role is to make sure we're as price competitive as we can be out of this port, and that we give you a schedule that is relative to the demand profile that we see." He said the challenge for the company and the community was to drive demand for the services. To grow the air service it was important to get the story and marketing of Kapiti right, firstly nationally and then internationally. "We have a whole lot of things here that are unique to us so we should put our best foot forward to ensure we're presenting that in the best way that we can, and in a way this community believes in. "If this community believes in it, then you will sell it. I would say we are in a better position now, than we have been for a long time, to be able to deliver that with clarity." Mr Collier, who noted there had been great work already, said the company "was there to help you promote that". But it was important not to lose sight of "filling the grandstands and we need to do that on the basis that we're delivering a reliable service". He felt the district had "momentum" especially with the Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway which presented the district "in a different light". "It has created a complete shift and I don't think we've seen the consequences of that yet but we certainly will. "The expressway is elevated and you actually get to see Kapiti, and what it represents, when you come through, and you get curious. "And the signage [to Kapiti Coast Airport] is great."

Source : 

http://www2.nzherald.co.nz/kapiti-news/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503789&objectid=11896317

More from the Blenheim Meeting

Marlborough airline Sounds Air is considering a "quantum leap" to larger aircraft on a route Air New Zealand ditched last year due to a lack of demand, its chief executive says. The carrier operates a fleet of 12 and 9-seaters but is exploring larger aircraft on the Blenheim to Christchurch route it started flying in August. Air New Zealand stopped offering direct flights between the centres last July, months after replacing its 19-seat Beechcraft 1900Ds on the route with 50-seat Bombardier Q300s. "One thing we're exploring is potentially larger aircraft, but to get larger aircraft is a quantum leap for a company like us," he said. "It's a dramatic change to our business model. But we are certainly looking at it and if we do get larger aircraft Blenheim to Christchurch will be the route they go on." The airline had ramped up operations on the route since last August, in part because of increased demand for flights following the earthquake and closure of State Highway 1. Last week Sounds Air offered 22 return flights, however Crawford said the pressure on the service meant the airline was investigating introducing larger planes to meet demand. The route was currently serviced by the 9-seat Pilatus PC-12s. Fares were a flat rate of $199 one way, or $398 return. Crawford said the airline was still conducting due diligence, but said the introduction of larger planes would mean more variable fares, some cheaper and some more expensive. There were no new models being manufactured in the capacity range between the 12-seat Cessna Caravan and the 70-seat ATR 72, so the company was looking at older models, he said. These included the 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D that Air New Zealand had been flying on the route, and the 34-seat Saab 340. The Sounds Air chief executive said a decision on the introduction of larger planes would be made within a month, and he believed there was enough demand to make it work. However, the company was still looking at various factors, including cost, how larger planes would work at the airports, and where it would source the planes from. Air New Zealand head of government and industry affairs Duncan Small said at the meeting, held in Blenheim on Tuesday, the airline was not going to reinstate the Blenheim to Christchurch route. "We are confident in the reasons we had for stopping that service before the earthquake, which is that we don't see the long-term potential to grow the service into something that's viable on a 50-seat aircraft," he said

Source : https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/95111909/sounds-air-investigates-larger-planes-between-blenheim-and-christchurch

Big Fish, Little Minnow, Overcrowded Pond

Australian carrier Jetstar should be investigated for selling fares below cost, sparking a race to the bottom that threatens smaller operators, a regional airline boss says. Sounds Air chief executive Andrew Crawford said since Jetstar started flying from Nelson Airport, in December 2015, the Marlborough airline had seen a significant drop in business in Nelson. Crawford said Nelson Airport had been the second biggest market for Sounds Air. It was now the sixth, and the company was making $60,000 a month less than it was two years ago. "Jetstar has come into this country and offered fares at ridiculous levels, I mean way below cost. They're offering fares that I believe the Commerce Commission should be putting a stop to," Crawford said. "It's absolutely decimated our market in Nelson to the point where we'll have to seriously consider if we can keep doing it ... it's a race to the bottom, and we're caught up in it." Crawford made the comments at a public meeting organised by Kaikoura MP Stuart Smith, which took place in Blenheim on Tuesday evening. It was illegal for a company to take advantage of market power under the Commerce Act, but for predatory, or below cost, pricing to be illegal companies had to meet a number of criteria. A Jetstar spokesman said the Commerce Commission had never investigated the company for selling fares below cost. He did not say if the airline engaged in the practice. "Aviation is a very competitive industry with airfares set based on market conditions. Jetstar is able to offer low fares because we keep our costs as low as possible," he said.

Source : https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/95160331/battle-in-the-skies-sounds-air-chief-lashes-out-at-cheap-jetstar-fares

CV521 off to the Chathams

During winter this year Air Chathams are operating an additional flight on Wednesdays between the Chatham Islands and Wellington... Convair 580 was operating flight CV521 from Wellington on 26 July 2017

 

Bigger aircraft for Sounds Air???

Speaking with AIN at the recent Caribbean Aviation Meetup conference in Sint Maarten and in subsequent e-mails, Sounds Air managing director and majority shareholder Andrew Crawford said the carrier now operates up to 22 PC-12 round trips a week on the Blenheim-Christchurch route as a result of the road closure. Crawford added that the closure generates more traffic demand for Sounds Air beyond even today’s increased schedule and noted that the main road between the two cities will remain closed for more than a year to come. According to Crawford, Sounds Air is looking for larger aircraft to meet the extra Blenheim-Christchurch demand and also to benefit from what he said is a forthcoming move by Air New Zealand regional subsidiary Air Nelson to end services with 50-seat turboprops at some New Zealand destinations. “We are looking at Beech 1900Ds and potentially Saab 340Bs as the two options that are potentially viable,” he explained.

For the full article see : https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2017-07-25/quake-damage-drives-sounds-airs-search-larger-aircraft 

Originair announces flights to New Plymouth

Originair is extending its airline services by adding direct flights between Nelson and New Plymouth which will take approximately 50 minutes. Initially there will be eight flights a week between the two cities, taking off from September 29.  The airline will be flexible around scheduling, reflecting extra demand during school holidays and long weekends. Originair managing director Robert Inglis says they are introducing the direct flights after listening to business and leisure travelers. "Currently anyone travelling between the two cities may spend lengthy periods transiting via Auckland and Wellington instead of less than an hour with direct services. We believe the Nelson and New Plymouth communities will support this service. It will appeal to travelers who want to spend a weekend in either city and to business travelers commuting for a week's work or a short stay," Mr Inglis says. The airline currently flys between Nelson and Palmerston North, a service which started in 2015 and is popular with business and leisure customers. The company's British Aerospace 18-seat Jetstream aircraft will fly the route and the company is adding another Jetatream to its operations to cover contracted charter flights, tours and maintenance coverage.

Originair is offering a special New Plymouth Introductory fare. Passengers simply enter the coupon code FLYNPL when searching for their flights online between Nelson and New Plymouth to book special fares starting from $179 one-way per-person. This introductory offer, which is limited, is for travel in October 2017. 

Dominion Newspaper flights

For almost 50 years the Dominion has been flown from Wellington to Nelson on an early morning more or less dedicated air service.

I'm trying to put together a little bit of a history to the service... These are the operators I have found that have flown it... I'm wondering if Rex Aviation or Rawson Aviation ever carried the Dominion???
You may pick up other errors...

1971                                    Capital Air Services

1978                                    James Air

Apr 1981                             Wellington Aero Club

Sep 1981                            Air Albatross

Dec 1985                            Skyferry

Oct 1988                             Fieldair Freight

Mid 1993                             Flightcorp

1999                                    Vincent Aviation

9 Jan 2006                          Sounds Air

As I put something together I would love to hear from pilots that have flown the early morning Dominion flight and maybe answer one or some of these questions

Operator you flew for?

Rough dates who flew the service?

What was your experience or stories of flying the papers?

Did you ever have passengers to or from Nelson?

Have you any pictures of the newspaper operation?

My email is westland831@gmail.com

I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks, Steve

Sunair Timetable #57

Sunair have released their new timetable effective 7 August 2017. There are no changes to the frequency of services, no new destinations and no new increase to fares. There are a few changes, however, with timetable changes to morning flights to and from Great Barrier Island. The biggest change is with the flights between Hamilton and the Gisborne with the aircraft now starting the day at Hamilton rather than Gisborne in an attempt, I suspect to beat the Hamilton fog! 

Meanwhile Sunair, from my observation seem to being doing well, with a number of Whangarei-Hamilton services been operated and Gisborne-Hamilton flights often running full. Gotta love Sunair!

See : http://sunair.co.nz/images/1-New_schedule_wef_7_Aug-Iss1.pdf