Whangārei Airport looks approachable on a calm day, but 16% of flights were cancelled in April, mostly due to ex-tropical Cyclone Tam.
Whangārei Airport looks approachable on a calm day, but 16% of flights were cancelled in April, mostly due to ex-tropical Cyclone Tam.
A high percentage of flights in and out of Northland were cancelled in April, the first month of new aviation performance reporting for the regions.
But airlines are urging people not to judge them by this first month alone, as it was heavily affected by weather-related disruption caused by ex-tropicalCyclone Tam.
Passengers have long complained about travel trouble from cancellations of flights in and out of Northland, with the canned flights often having a knock-on impact on overseas travel.
Up until now, there was no data about regional cancellations, with the Ministry of Transport only reporting on domestic jet services between major airports and transtasman routes.
In April, the ministry started reporting on-time performance data for all domestic regional routes, with the data covering both delays and cancellations. This will be reported monthly from now on.
Sunair was the only airline flying to Northland with a perfect record for the month, although it recorded low numbers, with just four flights into Whangārei and eight out of Whangārei, to either Aotea Great Barrier Island, Tauranga or Hamilton.
Barrier Air chief executive Grant Bacon said it was unfortunate reporting started on a month of major weather disruptions, with ex-tropical Cyclone Tam causing more cancellations in and out of Kaitāia than the infamous Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
“It was more extended, the timeframe,” Bacon said. “Kaitāia is a very reliable service, typically the only thing that causes cancellations is the cloud base in the Far North.”
Barrier Air had to cancel 21% of its flights between Kaitāia and Auckland and 15% of its flights between Kerikeri and Auckland in April due to ex-tropical Cyclone Tam.
The cyclone also caused disruptions in and out of Kerikeri, with Barrier Air’s new service being comparable to Air New Zealand’s.
Bacon said Barrier Air’s passenger numbers in and out of Kerikeri are increasing each month and the service appears to be sustainable.
“We’re very close to breaking even, which is a good achievement for 10 months ... The community has been very supportive of us, which is great.”
Bacon said Barrier Air’s reliability will be shown in upcoming months, with around 95% of flights to and from Kaitāia running in May.
Sunair managed to avoid cancellations through good management, according to flight operations manager Dan Power.
The airline operates four- and six-seater aircraft and did not count flights that were advertised but did not operate because there were no bookings.
Power said Sunair focuses on flying its passengers province-to-province on a direct flight, so they don’t have to transfer.
It will be extending its services in spring with daily flights between Kaitāia and Whangārei: a route not offered by anyone else.
Sunair already flies medical staff between Kaitāia and Whangārei and has decided to extend this service to the public, Power said.
Weather-related factors, particularly ex-tropical Cyclone Tam, also caused more disruptions than usual for Air New Zealand flights, general manager airports Kate Boyer said.
Ex-tropical Cyclone Tam caused chaos across Northland in April, with boats being washed up and flights cancelled.
When compared with flights in April 2024, the airline had between three and seven times more weather cancellations in and out of Kerikeri and Whangārei this year, Boyer said.
“April was a particularly challenging month for our regional operations ... The impact is clear when compared to April last year.”
Air New Zealand is continuing to strengthen its systems and processes in order to reduce the impact of severe weather events and to keep customers moving, Boyer said.
Minimising cancellations within its control is also a focus of the airline, she said.
“We’re continuing to invest in our people, training, aircraft and systems to improve the reliability of our regional services – all while keeping safety as our absolute top priority.”
Associate Transport Minister James Meager said cancellation rates of around 20% are not acceptable but he did acknowledge many Northland flights were cancelled due to weather.
Now the data was being collected on a regular basis, patterns can be shown, Meager said.
“It’s good to have the data to prove some of these regions are finding it tough.”
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
