Early morning flights resume

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The temporary Air New Zealand link between Napier and Gisborne ends next week but will be replaced by early morning flights to Wellington and Auckland.

“Air New Zealand is proud to have been able to provide a temporary air service between Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne while State Highway 2 was inaccessible due to damage from Cyclone Gabrielle,” Air New Zealand regional affairs manager Jason Dawson said.

“The service has operated since February 26, and by the time it concludes on June 10, will have carried more than 5700 passengers including a significant number of emergency workers and contractors.

“Air New Zealand rearranged its schedule to be able to provide these flights during what was a difficult time for the community. We have always been clear that this was temporary until the road (to Napier) reopened.

“From June 10 onwards, two aircraft will return to overnighting in Gisborne, allowing the airline to reinstate the early morning flights out of Gisborne.

“This is great news for the region to help improve connectivity and increase much-needed capacity to Auckland and Wellington again. We were pleased to be able to help out until connectivity resumed.”

The early morning flights were temporarily halted in March due to logistical reasons.

Mr Dawson said the airline continued to receive requests for community support following Cyclone Gabrielle.

“Even though we are unable to fulfil all requests, we have supported community wellbeing initiatives for impacted communities which are aligned to recovery priorities.

“Following the first few weeks supporting the response phase for the region, deploying resources, emergency workers and restoring air services, it has been rewarding to support community rebuild initiatives, as well as promote the region as ‘open for business’ again.”