Freedom Air finally bites the dust...

[ZK-KAG]

Well it finally happened... Freedom Air is sucked into Air NZ and is going to be shelved by March next year. With it goes all Palmerston North trans-tasman flights

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1335592

~ZK-KAG~

[ronindanbo]

You can only wind up a company not a subsidiary as Freedom Air has always been a subsidiary of ANZ. This was always on the boards as ANZ always seems to follow Qantas's lead (ala Jet Star)

[Zöltuger]

http://nzff.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;#entry6553374

i'd put $5 on freedom air ending at that time too. with zeal320, freedom air is so close to Air NZ that they'll cease to exist within a few years.

pay up, losers

[Snowman]

Another article about it on Yahoo/Xtra's news service...................

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/070906/3/1klo.html

Lawrie.

[Kelburn]

Freedom Air is actually owned by Mount Cook Airline but isn't owned by Air NZ but Mount Cook Airline is owned by Air NZ so it's a bit of an endless cycle.

[chopper_nut]

What a load of rubbish. Nearly every so called Freedom flight is run on an ANZ A320. I have seen the yellow birds more often on domestic runs.

[Kelburn]

I read somewhere that it was started up by Mount Cook Airline but it may be owned by Air NZ now anyway it only makes sense to use Air NZ aircraft.
Anyway when it started out, Freedom Air used its own aircraft painted in a striped livery using the same colours as Mount Cook Airline

[chopper_nut]

Freedom was intended to take over ANZs flights to the east coast of Aussie. ANZ have been bankrolling them for as long as I can remember. Bit like OP and QF. Im amazed this hasnt happened earlier. You hear some of the POBs that they fly around with and it just makes you think that they couldnt have made a profit.

[Naki]

Freedom Air is a subsidary of Mount Cook which in turn is a subsidary of Air NZ

[Chris Donaldson]

Man I wish people would get their facts straight before posting here. Freedom Air is not a subsidary of Mount Cook it's 100% owned by Air New Zealand. Freedom Air really hasn't existed much over the past 6-12 months as things moved over to the new "Zeal 320" which operated the routes in ANZ A320s. There is only 1 aircraft still remaining in Freedom colours ZK-OJO.

All the flights even if they're a Freedom number such as SJ937 are operated in ANZ 320s.

I have a friend who was Cabin Crew for Freedom until they changed to Zeal, who told me all this.

[Chris Donaldson]

This might be of interest:

Changes to Freedom Air services from 30 March 2008

Air New Zealand is to revamp its Tasman and Pacific Island services to provide customers with a compelling new travel experience.

Group General Manager Short Haul Airlines Norm Thompson said today that Air New Zealand would focus on providing customers with higher-quality product and services on its short-haul network following an extensive review of its Tasman operations.

"As part of our review we surveyed our frequent trans-Tasman customers, and the overwhelming preference was for us to focus on upgrading and enhancing our services."Â￾

Over the next 18 months, Air New Zealand will progressively introduce changes including a more spacious section of economy seating, new state-of-the art in-flight entertainment services and new food and beverage menus.

Mr Thompson also said that from 30 March 2008 Air New Zealand services would replace Freedom Air services on the Tasman, to provide customers with a more consistent and higher quality travel service.

"Customers flying the Tasman today have a range of experiences depending on which of our airlines they are flying, and which aircraft they're travelling on. We are realigning our services so that customers know what to expect - and have that expectation met - at every step of their journey."Â￾

Freedom Air has been operating for more than 10 years and Mr Thompson said it had provided more than four million Kiwis and Australians with a great low-cost travel option during that time. "The reality is that the price of airfares has fallen dramatically over the past ten years, and today there is little difference between Freedom and Air New Zealand fares."Â￾

Mr Thompson said customers surveyed had emphasised the need for an improved food offering, more leg-room and in-flight entertainment choices while maintaining Air New Zealand's competitive pricing.

Air New Zealand announced in June that it would spend more than $50m on equipping its A320s and 767s with individual on-demand personal entertainment screens, giving customers access to more than 450 hours of movie, television and audio content.

Mr Thompson said Air New Zealand would also alter the configuration on its 767 and A320 aircraft to create greater seat pitch at the front of the aircraft, where frequent fliers often travel, without affecting the pitch at the back of the aircraft. This will be achieved through the removal of a galley on the A320 aircraft and the removal of a row of economy seating on the 767.

"This will see Air New Zealand offer the best economy seat pitch of any airline flying the Tasman."Â￾

Mr Thompson said that the first six economy rows (36 seats) of the A320 aircraft and the first seven economy rows (50 seats) of the 767 aircraft will have increased seat pitch, from 30-31 inches to 35 or more inches.

"This will allow more than 20% of customers travelling in economy on these aircraft to enjoy more space and greater comfort on their Tasman and Pacific Island journeys,"Â￾ he said.

Mr Thompson said the new configuration would ensure customers purchasing higher fares enjoy an experience commensurate with the fare paid, while allowing price-conscious customers to take advantage of super-low fares.

"We remain committed to being the price leader in every fare category while providing great value no matter where you sit in the aircraft."Â￾

The reconfiguration work will be completed by Air New Zealand's Technical Operations team, which is working through detailed plans and specifications.

Mr Thompson said the changes will be implemented over the next 18 months, with all reconfigurations and IFE upgrades expected to be completed by the end of 2008.

At the same time, the interior of a number of aircraft will be refreshed to reflect the colours and design used on long-haul services.

New meal options on Air New Zealand's Tasman and Pacific services, featuring a wider selection of dishes for each meal, have this week been introduced. Native ingredients such as kawakawa and horopito have been used to ensure a truly unique New Zealand culinary experience.

Menu options will change monthly and include smoked Chicken and Cheese Frittata with Horopito for breakfast, a range of gourmet salads for lunch and Chicken Cordon Bleu and Thai Fish cakes with Sweet Chilli for dinner. Most dishes will be served with a fresh side salad and customers will be able to enjoy a wide range of refreshments including New Zealand wines.

Mr Thompson said as part of the Tasman review Freedom Air's direct services to and from Palmerston North to Sydney and Brisbane would be suspended from 30 March 2008. It would instead put this aircraft capacity into other sectors, where there is far stronger passenger demand.

"While our direct service to Brisbane has been popular during some months, bookings on the direct service to Sydney are not strong enough for us to continue to justify a commercial Tasman operation out of the region.

"We had been hoping to strengthen demand for Palmerston North services by combining Qantas and Air New Zealand demand with the proposed Tasman codeshare arrangement. But when this proposal was discontinued, the future of such routes became far less certain."Â￾

Air New Zealand expected Wellington Airport to be the main beneficiary of the discontinuance of trans-Tasman services to and from Palmerston North.

Mr Thompson said the switch from Freedom to Air New Zealand meant the national carrier would add nine new city pairs, including one new Australian port (Coolangatta) and two new New Zealand ports (Dunedin and Hamilton) to its international network. From Australia, Air New Zealand will now fly directly to more New Zealand ports than any other carrier.

"The switch from Freedom Air to Air New Zealand will have a number of advantages for many passengers, including the ability for them to earn Air New Zealand Airpoints, enjoy seamless booking services and all the other great benefits that arise from Air New Zealand's full service network."Â￾

Mr Thompson said that no redundancies were anticipated. Affected staff were being consulted and would be offered jobs within the Group.

Air New Zealand instigated the Tasman review after its proposed codeshare agreement with Qantas on the Tasman was turned down, to look at new ways of improving its competitiveness in the market.

"We are confident that the new measures announced today will continue to see Air New Zealand's share of the Tasman market strengthen, as it has done over the past 12 months, and clearly position Air New Zealand's Tasman and Pacific Island services into the future,"Â￾ he said.

Air New Zealand offers more capacity and frequency across the Tasman and Pacific Islands than any other airline flying to or from New Zealand, carrying nearly three million customers on its short-haul international network each year

[ronindanbo]

QUOTE(Ronindanbo @ Sep 11 2007, 05:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can only wind up a company not a subsidiary as Freedom Air has always been a subsidiary of ANZ. This was always on the boards as ANZ always seems to follow Qantas's lead (ala Jet Star)

QUOTE(Chris Donaldson @ Sep 11 2007, 05:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Man I wish people would get their facts straight before posting here. Freedom Air is not a subsidary of Mount Cook it's 100% owned by Air New Zealand. Freedom Air really hasn't existed much over the past 6-12 months as things moved over to the new "Zeal 320" which operated the routes in ANZ A320s. There is only 1 aircraft still remaining in Freedom colours ZK-OJO.

I really dont know why I bother writing things well at least someone has cleared things up a bit.

[mavman]

Great news for Dunedin and Hamilton , bad news for Palmy . Means full service, streamlined connections and an increased schedule. Will be a shame seeing OJO painted white though, definately adds colour to the skies at the moment!

[Naki]

QUOTE(Chris Donaldson @ Sep 6 2007, 06:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Man I wish people would get their facts straight before posting here. Freedom Air is not a subsidary of Mount Cook it's 100% owned by Air New Zealand. Freedom Air really hasn't existed much over the past 6-12 months as things moved over to the new "Zeal 320" which operated the routes in ANZ A320s. There is only 1 aircraft still remaining in Freedom colours ZK-OJO.

All the flights even if they're a Freedom number such as SJ937 are operated in ANZ 320s.

I have a friend who was Cabin Crew for Freedom until they changed to Zeal, who told me all this.

Okay maybe my facts were out of date but Freedom Air was set up originally as a subsidary of Mount Cook - check out this official history of Air NZ under 1995.

[frostynz]

Freedom Airs colours were awful anyway ... I will be pleased to see it gone from our sky's

[Chris Donaldson]

QUOTE(Naki @ Sep 6 2007, 09:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Okay maybe my facts were out of date but Freedom Air was set up originally as a subsidary of Mount Cook - check out this official history of Air NZ under 1995.

Sorry Naki, you were right on that fact. I did search around to try and find out who Freedom were actually a subsidiary of, but only found Air NZ. Interesting tho that they were launched in the beginning as part of Mount Cook. I never knew they operated a 757 in the very beginning either.

[Kelburn]

About my original point. I have to agree that it is now owned by Air NZ. What I meant was that it was started by MC Airline.
I wasn't too sure about it now.

[chopper_nut]

The only 757 I remember is the Air Brittania one that was here for about 6 months or so. I thought that was running for AirNZ

[jastheace]

kiwi was running a 757, and so was k2000 i think, if memory service, k2000 lasted about 2 flights

[chopper_nut]

When was K2000? dont remember it at all.