Nelson to Wellington (NSN-WLG) on NZ Q300

Arriving at the airport where the two check in desks where overwhelmed trying to check in several full flights worth of pax. So I head to the quick check machine (Nelson is the only regional airport to have these, for which I am thankful today) and am soon done. Moments later I realise I’d forgotten to switch my FFP # over. Dang. This can only be fixed manually at check in (or subsequently on arrival). Since the queues are still bad I decide it isn’t worth the hassle of trying it here, but instead will try to fix it in Wellington.

Nelson airport is the largest in the country not served by jets, and has a small regional koru club as well as café, observation deck, picnic area etc. However, in the peak summer travel season in particular it is far too small for the large volume of passengers and will still be busy even with double the size.

With the terminal crowded and being a nice day I wait for boarding outside in a picnic area – the pa can still be heard out here. Boarding is late as each flight has standby passengers gratefully accepting seats given up by no shows, and the airport setup precludes more than one flight boarding at a time.

It is another full flight. I have flown this route many times and enjoy this flight as it is very short and affords great views of the mountains and sea, the peace of the Marlborough Sounds and the tempest of Cook Strait. Sometimes the flight isn’t so enjoyable, for in strong winds the flight path cuts across the wind direction leading to a bumpy flight and in hot weather strong thermals over the rugged terrain also provide plenty of turbulence. Today, however, the winds are calm and the skies partly cloudy.

Since I have a connecting flight, I head to the lounge on arrival and ask to change the FFP #, which the lounge agent does for me. However, so far mileage hasn’t credited to either FFP for this flight (but has for the flights before and after) so I’ll need to chase this up