Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

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 / Northland Age

Four airlines now vying for Kaitaia flights

Northland Age
24 Nov, 2014 07:38 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

FLIGHT PATH WARS: Sunair Aviation owners Dan and Bev Power with one of their Piper Aztecs on a flying visit to Kaitaia Airport on Friday.

FLIGHT PATH WARS: Sunair Aviation owners Dan and Bev Power with one of their Piper Aztecs on a flying visit to Kaitaia Airport on Friday.

Whichever airline ends up replacing Air New Zealand on the Kaitaia-Auckland route, the town's air passengers are likely to end up with a better timetable.

One of the gripes about the current twice-daily Air New Zealand service is that the morning flight leaves too late for business travellers to get a full business day in Auckland. As a result many drive the extra hour to Kerikeri to catch an early flight.

However, Tauranga-based Sunair - one of four airlines now vying to fly the route - says it would base an aircraft and two crew at Kaitaia.

That means its first flight could leave at 7am, guaranteeing a full day in Auckland, and return about 9.30am. A second return flight could leave about 4-5pm.

Sunair owners Dan and Bev Power were in Kaitaia on Friday to meet airport operators Far North Holdings, Kaitaia business representatives, and the Chinese owners of a major tourism venture on Karikari Peninsula.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Auckland-based company Inflite was also in town on Friday, making use of a charter flight to Kaitaia to show off its plane and give a few lucky locals a free flight to Auckland.

Two more companies are understood to be interested in flying from Kaitaia but their identity is still under wraps.

Mr Power said his company would use its nine-seater Piper Chieftain or, as long as the business plan stacked up, buy a 12-seater Cessna Caravan. The level of landing fees charged at Kaitaia would be one of the crucial factors in deciding whether the plan had wings.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It was too early to say what flights would cost but a one-way ticket was likely to be similar to the current Air New Zealand fare. Reaction to the firm's proposal had been very positive, Mr Power said.

"Being somewhat remote the local community requires an air service. There's some nervousness about the possibility of not having one - we're here to allay those fears."

Mrs Power said the feedback so far had included one particularly heart-warming letter from a Kaitaia GP who told them how much medical services depended on flights to Auckland and Wellington. If there were no Kaitaia flights it would be even harder to persuade good staff to live in the very Far North, the GP said.

While in Kaitaia the Powers met airport staff and Far North Holdings chief executive Andy Nock, Kaitaia Business Association representatives, and the owners of Carrington Estate where a huge hotel development is planned.

Meanwhile, Inflite's 19-seat Jetstream 32 dropped into Kaitaia on Friday afternoon with 16 Chinese passengers heading to Carrington Estate. The plane had been due to return empty to Auckland so the firm offered the seats free to Kaitaia's business community and, via a GP, locals who needed to get to Auckland but could not afford to fly. The remaining seats were offered to Age readers who phoned in after last week's story. In the end only Bruce and Chris Buckby seized the opportunity, flying to Auckland to visit elderly parents before making their own way home to Kaitaia.

Inflite is the only third-level airline already operating planes of the same size as the Beechcraft 1900D Air NZ uses on the Kaitaia run. It also plans to offer early-morning flights if its bid is successful.

Air New Zealand's last flight out of Kaitaia is on April 28.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid

Northland Age

Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need

Northland Age

Far North news in brief: NRC weed workshops, 64 sika deer culled


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid
Northland Age

'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid

Police found three .22 rifles, a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle at a Kaitāia house.

16 Jul 10:53 PM
Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need
Northland Age

Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need

16 Jul 07:00 PM
Far North news in brief: NRC weed workshops, 64 sika deer culled
Northland Age

Far North news in brief: NRC weed workshops, 64 sika deer culled

16 Jul 04:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
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
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • 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
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP