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AUCKLAND to TAURANGA (AKL-TRG) on Air NZ Q300
As alluded to above I had 2 new domestic Air NZ routes to fly to maintain my 100% record (I still have a handful of international Air NZ routes that I am yet to fly but I'm whittling those down too). Unfortunately for me the schedule was weekday only and my travel patterns made it most unlikely I could fly either of these for work. Fortunately the schedule for the 2 routes nicely dovetailed at the airport in common allowing both to be done on the same day, and so on a weekday public holiday I took the opportunity to fly these last 2 routes. But first a positioning flight early in the morning. Previous times I had flown between Auckland and Tauranga had been on the smaller props - Beech 1900D and the uncomfortable Jetstream 32. This time it was the much larger Q300. For some reason on line check in would not work. The NZ website states the conditions for OLCI as: For your booking to be available online, it must:
So I got to the airport early (again catching up on sleep on the way in) and checked in at the quick check machines. Fortunately it appeared most of the flights were not too full and I could select better seats than the ones defaulted based on my status. One flight had a rather odd seatmap with one row not displayed at all (and no gap where it should have been) and several other seats just missing instead of the usual empty vs occupied/blocked (doesn't differentiate between these). With 4 boarding passes in hand I cleared security and up to the lounge for a coffee before boarding. As all my flights today are prop flights in theory I did not have to go through any security. Furthermore the quick check machines now allow check in by name, whereas when they first came out they only allowed check in with either the FFP card allocated to the booking or with the credit card used in purchasing the booking. So really there is little to no security! I grabbed a paper in the lounge as well as a coffee. Shortly after it was time to board but an announcement was made of a 30 minute delay to allow for connecting international passengers who were delayed. This gave me a bit more time to check my messages and FT. Boarding was actually called only 15 minutes late so I guess they made it across to domestic (or perhaps their bags) sooner than expected. With only 1 departing prop flight at this time it was clear I was the last passenger to reach the gate and then board, but they hadn't been waiting for me (no page this time!). The load was very light - maybe a dozen passengers. No wonder they waited for a couple of international pax. I did ponder why a smaller aircraft couldn't have been used instead. The skies over Auckland were clear but on both sides of the Kaimai Ranges there was reasonably thick cloud cover below us. Not much of a view this time. During the short hop we got the usual water but no hot drinks or any food. (On Beech and Jetstream flights we don't even get that as no flight attendant.) Still, a very easy flight for the FA with such a light load. We made up a few minutes and thus arrived only slightly late. |
Originally Posted by Kiwi Flyer
(Post 9204103)
The last 2 remaining domestic Air NZ routes have been flown (both were new routes from October 2007) - I'll write up shortly.
Another new route from May 2008 (Wellington to Whakatane vv) ... and so the challenge continues. |
Yeah - Masterton to come. And rumoured (but unlikely to be soon) for Paraparaumu.
Both those should be easier for me to fly ;) |
TAURANGA to CHRISTCHURCH (TRG-CHC) on Air NZ Q300
After a very pleasant meeting with DebH it was time to board the next flight. The aircraft had been sitting at Tauranga overnight and thus was ready to board a little early. Load was also light, but not quite as light as the flight down to Tauranga. Quite a long flight in a prop - almost 2 hours battling headwinds. Water, tea coffee and mini biscuit offered, plus boiled sweet on descent. No change from the usual service - the improvements to service on jet flights is not accompanied by improvement on the longer prop flights, at least not yet. I guess that is mostly explained by the lack of competition (Qantas is also improving service on domestic flights in NZ but only operate jets, and only on a handful of routes.) The FA had a really cushy flight. The low load meant her work was done very quickly and there isn't a lot of service any way. As we flew past northern Wairarapa the clouds cleared and we had good view of the hills and ranges, and the wide valley "plains". The ground looked very dry as a result of the ongoing drought. We flew past Christchurch along the coast before turning right near the Port Hills and doubling back to the airport landing to the north. Jets flying similar routes pass to the west of the airport and turn left to land to the north. |
I'll have to try the direct flight sometime this year - the timing hasn't worked for the flights I've booked thus far.
You certainly set the benchmark for NZ routes KiwiFlyer! |
I still have some more to write up, including today's drama at CHC!
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CHRISTCHURCH to NEW PLYMOUTH (CHC-NPL) on Air NZ Q300
A short transit stop. The food on offer was rather disappointing (for Air NZ) - hot dogs, lamingtons, cheese and crackers (several types of each), and salad. I didn't like the hot food on offer and where were the usual selection at this time of day of the above and sandwiches, scones and muffins, biscuits and fruit? Boarding was soon called. The flight was a little fuller, but still some empty seats. Somehow I (and my seatmate) were the only 2 individual passengers (as opposed to those travelling with someone else) who were seated together :( However the FA invited me to move to an empty row, which I was glad to do so. A short flight time of just on an hour. The usual water tea and coffee, plus biscuit and boiled sweet. The flight path is similar to that used for Christchurch to Auckland flights - over the hills of north Canterbury, left of the twin Kaikoura ranges and then the Marlborough Sounds and over Cook Strait. Out the other side there are good views of the Southern Alps, Nelson Lakes and Tasman Bay with Farewell Spit in the background enclosing Golden Bay. The pilots gave us a close up view of Mount Taranaki, doing a 2/3 circuit with the peak seemingly just off the wing, and also doing a fly by dip past Fathoms Peak on the northern flanks. |
NEW PLYMOUTH to AUCKLAND (NPL-AKL) on Air NZ Q300
On arrival I popped over to check in to change my seat and to get the access code for the lounge. With our early arrival I had about an hour before boarding the next flight. My seat was changed to a row much further back than I was expecting. This was because the load was so light (perhaps half a dozen pax) that there were balance issues. Readers should not think such low loads are normal, this is a mid-week public holiday and thus atypical. The lounge had been improved since my last visit to New Plymouth, with the addition of a computer and a microwave. The food and drink was the same regional koru club offering of 4 wines and about the same number of different beers, plus cheese and crackers, muffin, sandwiches, tea, coffee, juice and water. Our flight up to Auckland is short and sweet. Just water offered - no hot drinks. A pleasant way to end a pleasant day flying around the country. Just a minor bump over the Awhitu peninsula before we landed. |
FLYING TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND
All the current domestic routes are listed below, with links to reports on a selection of a proportion of those flights. I've flown all of these, including all NZ and all QF routes. DJ (Pacific Blue aka Virgin Blue) started services late 2007 on 3 routes - AKL-CHC, AKL-WLG and WLG-CHC. From/To Auckland
From/To Hamilton
From/To Wellington
From/To Nelson
From/To Christchurch
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Auckland to Christchurch on Air NZ 737-300 (earlybird flight with new domestic breakfast service).
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FLYING TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND
All the current domestic routes are listed below, with links to reports on a selection of a proportion of those flights. I've flown all of these, including all NZ and all QF routes. DJ (Pacific Blue aka Virgin Blue) started services late 2007 on 3 routes - AKL-CHC, AKL-WLG and WLG-CHC. A fourth DJ route is due to commence July CHC-DUD. From/To Auckland
From/To Hamilton
From/To Wellington
From/To Nelson
From/To Christchurch
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Air NZ has started up Wellington to Whakatane vv flights. Virgin Blue will soon be adding Dunedin to it's small network.
So I have some more flights to add to this report over coming months. But first, I'll write up a Qantas flight as it has been a while since the last one in this thread. |
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