The terminal was crowded and the sky ominous when the first Q300 landed at Whangarei Airport.
The 50-seater passenger aircraft has just begun flights to the airport, in a move that will put 48 extra seats in the air and reduce the risk of passengers being bumped off flights if it rains.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) flight restrictions that came into effect on June 1 see passengers kicked off flights to Whangarei in wet weather so that planes can land on the runway.
Eagle Air regional airways general manger Sarah Williamson said the company - an arm of Air NZ - had six flights in and six out of Whangarei daily, and from yesterday the four middle Beech 1600 flights would be replaced by two 50-seat Bombardier Q300 aircraft. Ms Williamson said the Q300s were not affected by the CAA wet weather restrictions and, while there would be two fewer flights a day, there would be an extra 48 seats a day available each way.
Ms Williamson said the CAA restrictions brought forward the decision to bring the Q300s to Whangarei. "We are seeing growth in Whangarei and we want to support that growth, and the CAA restrictions meant making the changes a bit sooner than planned. But we wouldn't have done it if there wasn't growth in the region."