Air New Zealand boosts Auckland-Napier route

Air New Zealand plane pictured at Hawke's Bay Airport.

An increasing number of people wanting to do business in Hawke's Bay has led to the national carrier putting on a dozen new flights a week between Napier and Auckland.

Air New Zealand confirmed it would operate up to an additional 12 one-way flights between Napier and Auckland each week at peak business times from the end of October.

"The additional flights reflect a capacity increase of around 5 per cent, or 9000 additional one-way business timed seats, when compared with the same period the previous year," an Air NZ spokeswoman said.

The new service to be operated over the summer period by the airline's 50-seat Q300 aircraft will depart Auckland at 5.50pm with the aircraft overnighting at Hawke's Bay Airport and returning to Auckland at 7.15am.

Air New Zealand regional affairs manager Ian Collier said the additional flights between Hawke's Bay Airport and Auckland came in response to growing demand from business travellers.

"It's great to be able to meet the needs of businesses, with the additional flights offering those travelling from Hawke's Bay the option of three services to Auckland before 8.30am and customers heading to Hawke's Bay three flight options after 5pm."

Business Hawke's Bay chief executive Carolyn Neville said the added capacity was welcomed, especially with an increase in people moving to Hawke's Bay from Auckland.

"Any increase in capacity at peak business times is valuable to business travellers in connecting them to not only Auckland but onward with international travel to global markets.

"We know that there are a number of people who are travelling for work who do so on a regular weekly or monthly basis to connect with colleagues and clients. The two-way flow of business travellers is also important in enabling Aucklanders to do business in our region.

"With the recent influx of people relocating from Auckland to Hawke's Bay air connectivity back to Auckland for work or to maintain connection with family and friends is vital in enabling people to establish themselves in the region and to add valuable skills into the Hawke's Bay workforce.

"Key problems now for those who are travelling are not so much access to Auckland but the cost of travel on the ground in Auckland and the productivity loss through traffic congestion and city travel times. Auckland is a key destination but additional capacity to Wellington and Christchurch would also be valuable."

Once running, the change means the 7.15am Auckland flight to Hawke's Bay Airport would operate Monday through to Sunday, while the Auckland-bound 5.50pm flight from Napier would run Sunday through to Friday.

"Hawke's Bay Airport welcomes this additional capacity which we are sure will be well supported by both the local community and visitors to the region," airport commercial manager Dean Smith said.

"While in the short term this announcement will put some pressure on our existing infrastructure, we are confident that the appropriate provisions are in place to ensure the growth can be accommodated."

Hawke's Bay Airport is a jointly owned by the Crown (50 per cent), Napier City Council (26 per cent) and Hastings District Council (24 per cent).

A multimillion-dollar project to expand the terminal started earlier this year.

Over the past two years two passenger movements rose 37 per cent to 652,000 passengers.