johnnyfive

Kiwi Regional Air has confirmed it will provide a daily Dunedin-Queenstown service.

The new airline announced its first routes today, and said it would start each day with a return Dunedin-Queenstown flight from September 27.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/34...ghts-confirmed

I hope it's ok to post this stuff here until KRA gets it's own master thread.

FullyIntoNewZealand

This whole thing is so laughable. I am intrigued how Ewan Wilson will price these flights.

cavemanzk

Isn't this going to be bit of an risky operation to start with? surely having 1x Saab flying these routes is asking for trouble, just needs to go tech then they are stuffed for the day.

Who on earth would fly DUD-ZQN? last time I drove it, it was around 2hours.

The fact that they didn't put the flights on sale today, makes me wonder if they will ever take off?

Kiwi Flyer

One aircraft operating

DUD-ZQN-DUD-NSN-HLZ-NSN-DUD-ZQN-DUD

Very odd.

sbiddle

One aircraft worked fine for him last time around. Not.

smeags_nz

Dunedin to Queenstown is a three hour drive. A bit longer this time of the year.

Being based here, I now look to Queenstown for trans-Tasman flights as the only direct Dunedin to Australia route is to Brisbane.

Still in saying that, not really sure I would use this Kiwi Regional Air service.

justakiwi

Ain't gonna end well, again. NZ is a small market with a long memory.

justakiwi

ruff00

I would actually use it. I live in Queenstown.

If it is priced correctly.

It's a three and a half our drive this time of year, or longer... so thats seven hours of your day.

If they can stay in business long enough, it opens up a lot of options for us.

DomesticGoddess

Another one. Can't see how (despite being somewhat different routes) you're going to see all these survive.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/n...nair-set-to-go

cavemanzk

Ironic aren't they the same two J32 he had at Origin Pacific? seems anyone that operates them, will end up bust....

Add to the mix all JQNZ fares now include Qantas points, even starter fares (http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...24-ghwadq.html)

FullyIntoNewZealand

^saw that! Ultimately i just don't think NZ is big enough for all these airlines. Jetstar are bad news for regional NZ. I worry that FF on Air NZ like myself might find that the schedule might be reduced to some of the centres JQ are looking at. We are so spoilt for flight choices to some of our airports. I continually take advantage of all these flight time options. I fear that if JQ enter the market, it will become swamped, and NZ will reduce timetables ect. My feelings anyway, and i know are not shared by many. The general public are very negative Air NZ, regionally anyway. But than again, JQ have burnt a lot of bridges, and just how cheap will their regional fares be anyway. There been quite a few times Air NZ as been cheaper or bang on what JQ are charging for main trunk.

I think Kiwi Regional are a little laughable, one Saab 340 flying all those sectors daily! And as it was said before in the thread, no timetable or fares released yet. Ewan Wilson is promising Fares never before seen in Regional NZ. How good will the really be though?

Origin Air is a interesting one, and one that caught me by surprise. Nelson-Wellington is already superbly looked after by Air Nelson/Mount Cook, and also with Sounds Air. Adding another airline to the mix as well.... And in reading about them they still only have one aircraft, the other aircraft is on lease to LifeFlight.

Interesting times for NZ Aviation....

oranjemakker

IME this is not the case on the CHC-AKL route, Jetstar is almost always much cheaper, and especially when you compare changeable fares (which on Jetstar is only a small topup). i generally buy the flexi option and buy a seat in the first couple of rows and save a lot of money versus AirNZ.

And another huge benefit for us as a (medium sized) business, we set up a business account which is free and we can hold fares for 48 hours at no cost, which means we can confirm meeting etc for staff travel to Auckland. That has been really good for us.

justakiwi

Ghastly plane legroom-wise. Will be avoiding that service.

justakiwi

cavemanzk

And a 2 in 3 change of having to sit next to someone

Davemac7

To the guy who can drive DUD-ZQN in 2 hours.... You'll have a dozen speeding tickets by the time you finish, if you don't kill yourself first; 3:20, legally. This sector is the longest (in driving time) between 2 cities in NZ that does NOT have a scheduled air service.
To the Whakatane people - Kiwi was quite interested in your town & it was one of the very first approached - still waiting for them to get back, & still a long-term interest in Whakatane-Wellington.
One aircraft to start with, another within the year - and centres not on Jetstar or Origin list queuing up to get scheduled services, especially in decent-sized, twin engine, pressurised aircraft.
Hamilton -Nelson proven by both Air NZ & Origin Pacific, both flying at same time for 18 months until plug pulled on Origin.
Nelson-Dunedin: 2 biggest Sth Island cities outside ChCh, biggest fishing ports, but have to connect via CHCh or Wntn? Try direct instead - save time & $s.
SAAB 340 - VERY efficient craft to fly compared with others on the go - think what that does to fares at any sort of reasonable load factor?