
Posted:
Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:31 pm
by Bazza
Well hopefully these steps may assist in providing some decent, up to date, affordable services to places like Dunedin.
A couple of months ago, my wife and I needed to fly Tauranga to Dunedin to attend an important family funeral. There were absolutely no flights available,
nor were there any from Auckland..all booked out for about 3 days. Had anything been available the prices were similar to what I had recently paid to fly to Brisbane/Gladstone.
Other relations living in Auckland beat us to the post and managed to get to ChCh and Timaru, and had to complete their journeys by Rental Car. It seems there are
no Jet Flights in or out of Dunedin..? No doubt it's good business to jam pack the smaller aircraft to the brim, allowing for the ridiculous fare structure that exists, similar
situation here in Tauranga.

Posted:
Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:44 pm
by Ian Warren
Cripes Dunedin off all places ! .. that is ridiculous and specific for an occasion that is important, I did not realize how apathetic the connections are, and Dunedin .. again is a primary center .. or least I would have thought so.

Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2014 8:45 am
by cowpatz
So Sunair is poised to take over from Air NZ on some of the abandoned provincial routes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/ar...jectid=11357674I certainly hope they are not considering using Piper Apaches and Aztecs for them. Just not suitable for todays scheduled air travel requirements.
These comments from John Key certainly show how isolated from reality he really is.

Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2014 8:52 am
by Ian Warren
It maybe an opportunity for Vincent Aviation to fill the spot ? since there little spot of strife in some to these regions.

Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2014 11:48 am
by deeknow
That sucks about the hassle your having Bazza.
Bazza wrote:It seems there are no Jet Flights in or out of Dunedin..?
There are Jet flights out of Dunedin but only direct to Auckland, on the A320.
Other options as you probably now know are B733/A320 AKL to CHC or WGN and then ATR/DH7 onto Dunedin from those locations.
Ian Warren wrote:It maybe an opportunity for Vincent Aviation to fill the spot ? since there little spot of strife in some to these regions.
Don't think so Ian....
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries...rs-receivershipcowpatz wrote:I certainly hope they are not considering using Piper Apaches and Aztecs for them. Just not suitable for todays scheduled air travel requirements
Article mentions using 208s, don't Salt Air already operate them out of Kaitaia? Caravans might be big enough but aren't they a bit slow?

Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:51 pm
by Naki
Salt Air sold their only Caravan to Sounds Air about two years ago. I think they still own a Airvan. Sun Air are talking about using a Caravan (which they would have to buy or lease) from Whakatane to Auckland and possibly onto Kaitia. Sun Airs current fleet includes 9 or 10 Aztecs

Posted:
Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:53 pm
by ardypilot
deeknow wrote:Article mentions using 208s, don't Salt Air already operate them out of Kaitaia? Caravans might be big enough but aren't they a bit slow?
Salt Air sold thier 208 to Sounds Air back in 2013. Now registered ZK-SAY. The only fixed wing on thier books these days is the GA8 for scenics out of Kerikeri as far as I'm aware.
deeknow wrote:This big shakeup in the provincial route structure would have seeminly been perfect for Vincent if the timing was right. Fortunately a few other 3rd level operators have indicated interest and will hopefully keep everything ticking along smoothly for passengers come April next year when Eagle start pulling out.