NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

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 / Kapiti News

Air Chathams back in Kāpiti after two months

Rosalie Willis
By Rosalie Willis
Multimedia journalist·Kapiti News·
17 May, 2020 07:00 PM4 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

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
/
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time -0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions settings, opens captions settings dialog
    • captions off, selected

      This is a modal window.

      Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.

      Text
      Text Background
      Caption Area Background
      Font Size
      Text Edge Style
      Font Family

      End of dialog window.

      This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

      Autoplay in
      5
      Disable Autoplay
      Cancel Video
      Passenger service and Tim Tams back soon. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

      Air Chathams will be flying in Kāpiti again exactly two months after their last flight between Kāpiti and Auckland on March 24.

      Air Chathams general manager Duane Emeny said Air Chathams is confident to restart its Kāpiti-Auckland service again on Sunday, May 24, but said they will start by taking a cautious approach.

      "Air Chathams and the Emeny family are overwhelmed by the messages of support received from the Kāpiti community, its business leaders and the Kāpiti Coast District Council.

      "We will start with 15 flights per week between Kāpiti and Auckland, after operating 26 flights a week previously.

      "We will focus on business-hour flights for the early flight out of Kāpiti at 6.55am, returning from Auckland at 6.10pm."

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan, left, and Air Chathams owner Duane Emeny. Photo / David Haxton
      Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan, left, and Air Chathams owner Duane Emeny. Photo / David Haxton

      There will also be extra flights out on Friday afternoons, a flight to Auckland on Saturdays along with three flights between Auckland and Kāpiti on Sundays.

      "After almost two months of lockdown, what we have seen through conversations with other airlines is that there is pent-up demand for domestic travel."

      Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan believes Air Chathams plays an important role in our community and is asking the Kāpiti community to back the airline as it gets ready to resume services between Paraparaumu and Auckland.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      "Air Chathams plays an important role in our community and in supporting our district to recover from the unprecedented impacts of Covid-19," Mr Gurunathan said.

      "Reconnecting family, business and visitor connections is of critical importance to our district's social and economic recovery and we need to do what we can to help the airline get back up and running as quickly and sustainably as possible."

      Throughout the lockdown the airline was able to operate essential freight services which turned out to be a lifesaver with the business able to get through without reducing staff with the help of the wage subsidy.

      Air Chathams will be using a Saab 340 which normally seats up to 36 people but will be restricting it to 25 people.

      "This allows for one or two passengers per row plus an educated assumption that there will be a number of passengers that will be travelling together, allowing us to slightly overbook on the social distancing as they can sit together," Mr Emeny said.

      Discover more

      Grasping a squeaky clean hands-on opportunity

      01 May 02:01 AM

      Coastlands to construct mirror image building

      07 May 10:47 PM

      Chamber of Commerce urges community to support business

      14 May 03:17 AM
      New Zealand

      Kapiti Olive Oil good as gold in New York

      15 May 02:00 AM

      "We will be applying the guidelines from the Ministry of Transport around our level 2 PPE and hygiene policy by handing out hygiene packs free of charge at check-in which includes a facemask which will be mandatory to wear and hand wipes.

      "We want to make everyone feels safe on our flights and will be doubling down on our cleaning efforts to make sure all the planes are kept clean and sterile, creating a safe environment for our passengers.

      Air Chathams will use a Saab 340 to service its Kāpiti to Auckland route. Photo / David Haxton
      Air Chathams will use a Saab 340 to service its Kāpiti to Auckland route. Photo / David Haxton

      "Covid-19 has been a huge blow to our airline but we are excited and motivated to rebuild and continue to provide the safe, reliable service our reputation has been built on."

      Mr Gurunathan said the council is committed to engaging with the Whanganui and Whakatane district councils to see what they can do help secure Air Chathams' future in the regions.

      This includes lobbying central government for support.

      "Prior to Covid-19 our district's share of regional and national tourism had been steadily increasing by around 10-15 per cent year-on-year over the past three years and we expect that to continue given the border restrictions.

      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.

      "Air Chathams has built a strong and loyal customer base that, prior to Covid-19, was benefiting from the comfort and convenience of having a hassle-free regional connection right on their back doorstep.

      "We fought hard to get Air Chathams to fly Kāpiti skies back in 2018 and we are equally committed to supporting them to get back up on their feet again."

      Save

        Share this article

      Latest from Kapiti News

      Kapiti News

      Mumpreneur revolutionises property management

      15 Dec 11:30 PM
      Kapiti News

      Kāpiti news in brief: Award-winning nature photo features rare bird nesting

      12 Dec 10:48 PM
      Kapiti News

      Beloved Paraparaumu College teachers bid farewell after long service

      11 Dec 10:15 PM

      From early mornings to easy living

      sponsored
      Advertisement
      Advertise with NZME.
      Recommended for you
      Sinner takes second set to even Wimbledon final
      Tennis

      Sinner takes second set to even Wimbledon final

      13 Jul 05:25 PM
      'What residents deserve': Water trial treatment plant to be set up in Marton
      Whanganui Chronicle

      'What residents deserve': Water trial treatment plant to be set up in Marton

      13 Jul 05:15 PM
      A love note in a bottle is found years later, an ocean away
      World

      A love note in a bottle is found years later, an ocean away

      13 Jul 05:00 PM
      Govt wants to increase international students by over 30,000 by 2034
      New Zealand

      Govt wants to increase international students by over 30,000 by 2034

      13 Jul 05:00 PM
      Swarbrick: Why NZ should consider a wealth tax on the ultra-rich
      New Zealand

      Swarbrick: Why NZ should consider a wealth tax on the ultra-rich

      13 Jul 05:00 PM

      Latest from Kapiti News

      Mumpreneur revolutionises property management

      Mumpreneur revolutionises property management

      15 Dec 11:30 PM

      How Chelsea Gill created a family-friendly business.

      Kāpiti news in brief: Award-winning nature photo features rare bird nesting

      Kāpiti news in brief: Award-winning nature photo features rare bird nesting

      12 Dec 10:48 PM
      Beloved Paraparaumu College teachers bid farewell after long service

      Beloved Paraparaumu College teachers bid farewell after long service

      11 Dec 10:15 PM
      FreedomLife Te Nikau celebrates 25 years of transforming lives

      FreedomLife Te Nikau celebrates 25 years of transforming lives

      10 Dec 10:47 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
      • NZ Herald e-editions
      • Daily puzzles & quizzes
      • Manage your digital subscription
      • Manage your print subscription
      • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
      • Subscribe to Herald Premium
      • Gift a subscription
      • Subscriber FAQs
      • Subscription terms & conditions
      • Promotions and subscriber benefits
      NZME Network
      • The New Zealand Herald
      • The Northland Age
      • The Northern Advocate
      • Waikato Herald
      • Bay of Plenty Times
      • Rotorua Daily Post
      • Hawke's Bay Today
      • Whanganui Chronicle
      • Viva
      • NZ Listener
      • Newstalk ZB
      • BusinessDesk
      • OneRoof
      • Driven Car Guide
      • iHeart Radio
      • Restaurant Hub
      NZME
      • About NZME
      • NZME careers
      • Advertise with NZME
      • Digital self-service advertising
      • Book your classified ad
      • Photo sales
      • NZME Events
      • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
      TOP
      search by queryly Advanced Search