Wine flight charters

While its Sounds Air who have the scheduled wine flights (BHE-NPE) it has been Air New Zealand who has been making all the noise with two BHE-GIS charter flights for delegates at recent wine conferences.

Following the International Sauvignon Blanc Celebration in Marlborough, more than 60 top international wine writers, sommeliers and buyers were flown to Gisborne to attend the inaugural Chardonnay and Sparkling Symposium.

Air New Zealand operated two Air Nelson Q300 aircraft on these flights which operated on Thursday 04-February-2016;

ZK-NEQ operated NZ8902 which departed BHE at 13:59 and after its leisurely flight across New Zealand's wine growing regions landed in GIS at 15:43

ZK-NFA operated NZ8904 which departed BHE at 14:16 and followed the same path landing in GIS at 16:14

Radar track of the leisurely flight path of NZ8902 ZK-NEQ BHE-GIS

Read the story and see video from the flight via the Marlborough Express HERE

KRA announce initial routes

New start up Kiwi Regional airlines has announced its first routes with a launch focus on Dunedin.

From Sunday 27-September-2015 KRA hopes to use its single Saab SF340A on the following daily rotation DUD-ZQN-DUD-NSN-HLZ-NSN-DUD-ZQN-DUD

KRA has always wanted to operate routes without direct competition from the national carrier, and with this route structure they have succeeded in that.

Dunedin - Queenstown is a route that has only been offered by small regional operators in the past with 9 seat aircraft so the introduction of a 32 seat aircraft on double daily flights is a big jump.

Dunedin - Nelson is a brand new route linking together two of the South Islands larger centres, a route that has never had a direct service.

Nelson - Hamilton is a route that has previously been operated by both Origin Pacific and Air New Zealand.

Despite being Dunedin centric in this initial schedule, the airline will base its crews in Hamilton.

Read more about the KRA plans via stuff.co.nz HERE

JQ to the regions in NZ

Jetstar look set to enter deeper into their head to head battle with Air New Zealand in New Zealand, announcing they will base a 5 strong fleet of Dash 8 Q300 aircraft in New Zealand to fly regional routes.

In a period where Air New Zealand has downsized its regional flying and is reducing its regional fleet types, Sounds Air and Air Chathams are filling in the gaps left by Air New Zealand and new player Kiwi Regional Airlines has announced its intentions, this decision from Jetstar is certainly interesting.

The five Q300s will come from Qantas Link subsidiary Eastern Australian Airlines who will operate the aircraft for Jetstar.  Jetstar is still evaluating which routes it will fly the Q300s on from December and is seeking public feedback on proposed routes including Hamilton, Rotorua, New Plymouth, Napier, Palmerston North, Nelson and Invercargill.

Jetstar made the announcement this morning in Auckland with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce in attendance as well as New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

Read more on the Jetstar announcement via one of these sources
stuff.co.nz HERE
nzherald.co.nz HERE
ausbt.com.au HERE

2015 Comings and Goings to date

The first two and a half months have seen quite a few changes to the New Zealand & Australian aircraft registers in terms of passenger aircraft.  Here is a look at some other the comings and goings.

Air New Zealand had a net gain of two aircraft in the period welcoming the following 3 arrivals;
ZK-MVF ATR 72-600 registered 14-January-2015
ZK-OXG Airbus A320 registered 20-February-2015
ZK-OXH Airbus A320 registered 27-February-2015

This was offset by the departure of a Boeing 737-33A
ZK-NGP Boeing 733 deregistered 16-March-2015 exported to storage awaiting its future

As per my previous posts between 30-January-2015 and 14-March-2015 Virgin Australia returned their fleet of 10 Boeing 737-8FE aircraft to the Australian register - see HERE for more. 
Virgin Australia also received one new build Boeing during this time
VH-YIY Boeing 738 registered 5-February-2015

Airwork Flight Operations Limited who are the preferred contractor to Toll Freight in Australia farewelled one of their Boeing 737 Freighters

ZK-TLF Boeing 734 deregistered 10-March-2015 and exported to unknown whereabouts

As mentioned in THIS post last year, Vincent Aviation unfortunately went into receivership in October-2014.  Their fleet has begun to move on.

ZK-ECO BAe 146 re-registered to ANCL Investments Ltd 12-March-15 but took effect on 5-October-2014 - despite leaving the country this aircraft remains on the New Zealand register.

ZK-VAB Beech 1900D deregistered 25-February-2015 exported unknown future

ZK-VAH Jetstream 32 deregistered 18-March-2015 exported unknown future

ZK-JSH & ZK-LFW Jetstream 31 re-registered on 9-March-2015 but took effect on 17-October-2014 to Air Freight NZ Ltd

This leaves just Jetstream 32 ZK-VAI as the remaining passenger aircraft owned by Vincent Aviation on the New Zealand register.

Alliance Airlines added one frame during the period

VH-NKU Fokker F28Mk70 (F70) registered 17-February-2015

Qantas saw 3 of their previously departed aircraft leave the Australian register during the period, all three were exported to the USA where they will be prepared for their new owners.

VH-OGJ Boeing 767-338 deregistered 19-January-2015 to C-FOGJ with WestJet in Canada

VH-OGN Boeing 767-338 deregistered 6-March-2015 to WestJet in Canada

VH-TJS Boeing 737-438 deregistered 30-January-2015 due to return to the region with Airwork NZ

There were two changes for Jetstar during the period with two aircraft leaving their fleet

VH-VQB Airbus A320 deregistered 20-January-2015 exported to Mexico as XA-VAH with VivaAeroBus

VH-EBJ Airbus A332 transferred to Qantas 13-March-2015

Rough start for potential new NZ domestic player

Startup regional player Kiwi Regional Airlines has announced its proposed route network, but has already suffered a knock back at the hands of the New Zealand Government.

KRA CEO Ewan Wilson is well know in the New Zealand aviation industry having been behind the failed Kiwi International Airlines that operated LCC services Trans-Tasman and fell victim to amongst other things predatory behaviour Air New Zealand's Freedom Air.

KRA's launch network was set to be;
AKL-HLZ-NSN-ZQN-DUD
WPE-WLG
WPE-PMR-BHE
NSN-PMR-TRG

However the New Zealand Government has confirmed it will not be revising a decision that prevents civilian flights from Whenuapai due to noise concerns.  This will prevent KRA from launching its WPE-WLG and WPE-PMR routes.

KRA's route network has been carefully chosen so the airline is not in compassion with Air New Zealand Link.

The company will be based in Hamilton, and will purchase two Saab 340 34-seater aircraft from Europe for the flights. Snacks and refreshments will be offered, and the service will include a flight attendant.

The airline is looking to add a third SF340 to the fleet once operations have commenced.  These cannot commence yet as KRA has yet to receive regulatory approval from the CAA, according to their press release, they hope to commence flights in late 2015 or early 2016.  As can be seen in the above graphic they are aiming to commence the application process on 01-May-2015.

Check out the airlines website HERE
the stuff.co.nz article HERE
the nzherald.co.nz article HERE
and the KRA press release HERE

WSZ get new Sounds Air service (Updated)

After detailed talks between Picton based Sounds Air and Buller District Council Westport will be serviced by Sounds Air after national carrier Air new Zealand Link cease services in April.

The service will operate with a new aircraft to the Sounds Air fleet a 9 seat Pilatus PC12, the photo provided to media outlets by Sound Air depicts Pilatus Australia's demonstrator PC12 VH-FMM, it is unknown if this is the frame that Sounds Air will utilise or if this is for demonstration purposes only.

The announcement sees a partnership between Sounds Air and Buller District Council who own 50% of the Westport Airport in partnership with the New Zealand Government.

The deal sees Sounds Air guaranteed a six year term for the flight with the option of increasing services or adding new destinations should the need arise.

Return flights will operate 13x weekly with a double daily rotation WSZ-WLG-WSZ morning and evening Monday - Friday, with an additional morning return flight on Mondays and Fridays, the evening rotation will also operate on Sundays.

Flights will be available for booking on the Sounds Air website from Monday 26-January-2015 at the set price of $199 one way for an adult and $179 one way for children.  All fares come with an included 20kg baggage allowance.

Read more via The Marlborough Express HERE

UPDATE

Sounds Air have posted on Facebook that the new route will operate with two PC12's - they have again used the photo of VH-FMM and have also included an artists impression of the PC12 in Sounds Air livery wearing the ZK-PLS registration.

They have also announced Tuesday 28-April-2015 as the date of the first service.

Photo via Sounds Air Facebook page

Is user pays the new hope for regional NZ?

Masterton residents were up in arms when Air New Zealand dropped their daily MRO-AKL flight in February, now hope is thriving again with possibilities for "user pays" flights.

The first possible white knight to the community was Sounds Air with their plan to operate a Cessna Caravan on MRO-WLG as a morning commuter flight but this idea has since been shelved.

Next saw Vincent Aviation offer the community their MRO-AKL service back with a Saab SF340 service, however the community would have to buy or lease the Saab which Vincent would then operate.  However it looks like this plan will also be shelved after the turbulence of the Vincent Aviation Australia collapse.

The third white knight is Air Chathams a long established operator who usually fly to and from the Chatham Islands.  They have the experience here as well as having operated Chathams Pacific in Tonga, which ceased operation last year when the Tongan government set up a rival airline with Chinese donated aircraft.

Air Chathams are revisiting their original proposal and if the community accepts the terms, stumping up $100,000 to form a 50/50 LLC company, then Air Chathams could be flying from MRO in as little as two weeks from the formation.

However it appears there will need to be structural work completed at the airport, extending the runway by 70 meters at a cost of $150,000, to allow the Air Chathams Metroliner aircraft to take off with an 18 passenger load.

Whatever the local council and community decide it looks like the future of any service to Masterton relies on significant investment from the users.  Should this work out well then this offers an opportunity for other regional centres who have lost services to work with an iterated party using the "user pays" model to restart their service.

Read more about the Air Chathams proposal via the Dominion Post HERE

NZ change BHE-AKL flights

Everyone knows this blog has an affinity with Blenheim New Zealand, NZWB/BHE and here is a post with good news for the Sauvignon Blanc capital of the world

Blenheim businesses are celebrating with Air New Zealand's announcement that the BHE-AKL route will shift to all Dash 8 Q300 aircraft.

Blenheim Shuttle owner Duncan McIntyre, who transports people to and from the airport, said increased passenger numbers would benefit a lot of Marlborough businesses.
"It helps everyone," Mr McIntyre said.
"Everybody wins. Anything that helps Marlborough is great."   

The flights currently operate 4x daily 2 utilising the Q300 and the other two with the staple Beech 1900D.  There are currently 5 flights on Friday's with an additional 1900D service, just 3 on Saturdays and 5 on Sunday's with one operated by Mt Cook with an ATR 72.

From Next week Monday 10-February-2014 the flights shift to all Q300 aircraft with 4 flights daily Sun-Fri & 3 on Sat.  However the 4th flight on Sunday's remains with the 1900D and there are a few changes over Feb to meet increased demand for events in Blenheim.

Read the full Marlborough Express article HERE

Air Nelson Q300 at BHE

Sounds Air to add WAG?

Picton based Sounds Air look set to replace Air New Zealand on the Wellington to Whanganui route according to a Marlborough Express report.

Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford said detailed discussions between the airline and the Whanganui District Council were " a long way through" and an official announcement was pending.
Air New Zealand announced in September that it would drop its five-times weekly service between Whanganui and Wellington from Christmas Eve, citing a lack of demand.
Mr Crawford said Sounds Air would fly at the same times as the current Air New Zealand flights. But it would provide fewer seats than Air New Zealand which uses a 19-seat Beechcraft 1900D.   

This would take the Sounds Air destinations to 5 with Wellington, Picton (Koromiko), Blenheim, Nelson & Masterton* all currently served.

*Masterton was scheduled to start with Sounds Air offering flights to Wellington in place of the scheduled Air New Zealand services

Read the full article from the Marlborough Express HERE

Could SA replace NZ in MRO?

While its a bit of a stretch to think its SA code namesake South African Airlines would replace Air New Zealand Link on services into Masterton, there is a chance that Sounds Air may bring services back to the airport.

Sounds Air would not look to replace the national airline on its Masterton-Auckland service rather operating a new Masterton to Wellington service to offer passengers an alternative to traffic queues and exorbitant parking charges at Wellington.

While criticism continues of the national carrier's decision to can its Masterton-Auckland route, Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford told The Dominion Post his airline would meet Masterton Mayor Garry Daniell on Monday to discuss stepping into the breach from November.   

Sounds Air would offer an early morning departure from Masteron in one of its Cessna C208 Caravan's on the short flight to Wellington where passengers can then connect onto an Air New Zealand service to Auckland or Christchurch.

Read more on the potential offering HERE

NZWB/BHE set to grow

Photo from Marlborough Airport website

Blenheim's airport terminal, at Woodbourne (NZWB/BHE) is set to more than double its footprint in expansion plans unveiled yesterday.

It was expected to take six months to complete the work, which would see the passenger area expanded to the south, increasing existing floor space from 92 square metres to 240 square metres.
A mezzanine floor was also being considered to further increase passenger space.   

The current terminal opened in 1995 and passengers numbers have grown to 230 000/yr and are expected to continue to grow, especially with more Air New Zealand flights moving to the Q300 aircraft.  Even if Air New Zealand replace 2x 1900D flights with a single Q300 flight that is still an increase in capacity from 38 to 50 seats.

Marlborough Airport is served by 3 airlines Air New Zealand operating a mix of B1900D & Q300 aircraft to AKL, CHC & WLG, SoundsAir operating C208 Caravan & C208B Grand Caravan Aircraft to WLG and Air2There operating a C208 Caravan between PPQ, BHE & NSN - Air2There codeshare on the SoundsAir BHE-WLG route.

Read more on the terminal expansion via local newspaper The Marlborough Express reporter Cathie Bell HERE

NZ regional changes

In what appears to be a common trend Air New Zealand is slashing more 1900D services with AKL-MRO and WLG-WAG being cut, and AKL-ROT going to Q300 for morning services.

This follows in the footsteps of earlier changes including a morning Q300 service on the WLG-BHE route replacing two 1900D services.  The extra Q300 capacity is due to the new ATR 72-600s being introduced to several Q300 routes.

The Auckland to Masterton route ends in February 2014, while the Wellington to Wanganui service ends in December this year.

Blaming uneconomic operations and lack of demand, Air New Zealand executives told Wairarapa mayors today the service from Masterton Airport would cease from February 5.

In scuttlebutt around the internet there is word that Air New Zealand subsidiary Eagle Air is looking to sell 8 of their 1900D fleet but this is yet to be substantiated by any proof.

The main article for this on the NZ Herald website appears to have been removed despite being a trending topic and most read story with the links returning you to the home page, however the article can still be seen at the Wairarapa Times-Age site HERE (which itself is a subsidiary of the NZ Herald)