Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Air New Zealand's 67-flight-a-week commitment to Hawke's Bay

By Hamish Saxton
Hawkes Bay Today·
8 Jun, 2020 06:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

A huge 67 weekly flights are coming into Hawke's Bay, which only a month ago had a mere three flights a week. Photo / Warren Buckland

A huge 67 weekly flights are coming into Hawke's Bay, which only a month ago had a mere three flights a week. Photo / Warren Buckland

OPINION:

The common idiom at the start of alert level 4 was that Kiwis everywhere were now truly flightless.

Our national carrier was, with the exception of a handful of essential service flights, grounded, and it didn't feel like anything was going to change anytime soon.

It was a peculiar time for New Zealanders. It still is. For people who are renowned worldwide for their desire to travel, not being able to do so remains unsettling, constraining even.

What's more, there are an estimated 1.5 million New Zealanders who live abroad.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Some of these people will have come home ahead of lockdown, but the majority are still scattered across the globe. Families, therefore, are still located around the world.

And while it is going to take time before we are travelling freely across the globe again, I was elated to read that as of next month Air New Zealand will once again be increasing direct air services to Hawke's Bay.

From July 1, they will operate 36 weekly return flights to Hawke's Bay from Auckland, 16 weekly return flights from Wellington and 15 weekly return flights from Christchurch.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

That's a huge 67 weekly flights into our region's airport, which only a month ago had a mere three flights a week.

It's a potential 4556 people – when we move to alert level 1 – flying in and out of Hawke's Bay. Even more flights are expected to operate during the July school holidays.

Air New Zealand says it has been encouraged by the demand from leisure travellers and are expecting demand for business travel to continue to build.

Personally, I am immensely encouraged by Air New Zealand's distinct commitment to servicing Hawke's Bay.

During alert level 3, Hawke's Bay Airport was one of just seven ports recognised by Air New Zealand as a vital link for essential services. As the alert levels decreased, the number of flights into our region has grown.

Increased flights numbers have got to be good for business. Our economy needs good connectivity – whether it be for freight and goods to market, face-to-face meetings or professional development such as conferences.

Travel for pleasure, leisure and visiting friends and family all assist in growing the demand for greater capacity and frequency, all of which, makes air services more viable.

This connectivity provided by Air New Zealand is critical for tourism. The additional flights clearly bring more visitors to our districts, while the reopening of the Hawke's Bay-Christchurch service directly connects us with a South Island market for the first time since March.

Queen's Birthday weekend illustrated that there is much pent up demand for travel among New Zealanders, and with the borders remaining closed for now, this newly reopened route is another opportunity for the region.

However, for now, I simply want to say thank you to Air New Zealand for helping our region's Kiwis to fly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

- Hamish Saxton is the CEO of Hawke's Bay Tourism

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

11 Jul 04:03 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

11 Jul 01:10 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

10 Jul 09:05 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

Hawke’s Bay club rugby: Napier’s McLean Park to host 3 finals

11 Jul 04:03 AM

Two Māori All Blacks to play in Maddison Trophy final.

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

Fire in Flaxmere garage sends plume of black smoke skyward

11 Jul 01:10 AM
Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

Mahia Hunt holds final fixture after marking 125th anniversary

10 Jul 09:05 PM
Premium
The humour history of Don Martin: Wyn Drabble

The humour history of Don Martin: Wyn Drabble

10 Jul 07:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP