Air Wanganui has shown its support for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation with a scenic flight around the region for six people.
The event ran alongside the NZ House and Garden tour of Whanganui on Friday, and everyone on the tour who made a gold coin donation to the Breast Cancer Foundation went into a draw to win a flight.
The House and Garden tour - the first one run in Whanganui - has been a sellout this weekend, and the flight was just one of many opportunities for the visitors to see the best of the River City.
The six names drawn were Maureen Jackson, Tricia Bruce, Emma Anderson, Rayma Murphy, Penny Bargh and Courtney Head, and they enjoyed an hour-long trip around Mts Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe and back along the Whanganui River to the city.
In addition they received a goodie bag full of products all made in Whanganui.
Air Wanganui chief executive officer Dean Martin said the organisation's core business was as sole air ambulance provider in the region for the Whanganui District Health Board.
"So for us, the Breast Cancer Foundation is a good organisation to support and that's why we did this flight," Mr Martin said.
"We transfer up to 600 patients on an annual basis and that has increased as hospitals are specialising in particular areas of medicine. We also do organ donor jobs nationally, as a back-up - we do six to eight of those jobs per year."
Air Wanganui employs nine staff, mostly pilots, and has two top-of-the-range Beechcraft turboprop aircraft.
The company, which has been in business for more than 30 years, has provided the air ambulance service for Whanganui and the wider region for the last 21 years. The air ambulance is available 24/7 and, under its contract with the health board, must be ready to go within half an hour to transport patients.
As well as providing air ambulance services, the company has a growing charter market.