Air NZ Pulls out of Oamaru

[Jarden S]

12 October 2009

Air New Zealand subsidiary Eagle Air today confirmed that it is suspending its services between Oamaru and Christchurch.

Eagle Air General Manager Carrie Hurihanganui said the Oamaru-Christchurch service had been suffering from poor load factors and equally poor yields for more than 12 months.

Despite working closely with the Waitaki District Council and other key stakeholders to try and strengthen demand, Mrs Hurihanganui said Eagle Air will be suspending the Oamaru-Christchurch service as it is no longer currently viable due to weak demand.

The service between Oamaru and Christchurch will be suspended from 1 January 2010.

Eagle Air, which operates more than 1100 flights a week throughout New Zealand, continually reviews all services and schedules to ensure they are best meeting customer needs.

"Eagle Air will regularly review this decision and is committed to reintroducing scheduled services should the prospect of higher demand arise," says Mrs Hurihanganui.

"Despite the best efforts of Eagle Air in conjunction with the Waitaki District Council, passenger loads on our Oamaru-Christchurch service have averaged 45% over the past six months.

"This is the equivalent of flying 63 empty return trips with the 19-seater Jetstream aircraft over the past six months and we can no longer afford to sustain the significant losses being incurred."

Eagle Air and the Waitaki District Council will have regular meetings quarterly to identify future opportunities should the market grow.

"The Waitaki District Council is obviously disappointed that the service is being suspended, but has appreciated the way that Eagle Air has worked with us to look at all options," says Waitaki District Deputy Mayor, Gary Kircher.

"We expect demand will increase as major projects begin and we are pleased that the situation will continue to be reviewed with an intention to reinstate a regular service," says Michael Ross, CEO Waitaki District Council."

Mrs Hurihanganui said today's decision was part of Eagle Air's ongoing review of its entire network to ensure it was operating a sustainable business.


Ends

Issued by Air New Zealand Public Affairs, ph +64 9 336 2761

[Rod Sloan]

aaahhhh good ol' Oamaru. Lived here for a few years. Back then Air New Zealand F27's flew Oamaru - Timaru - Wellington.

[Jarden S]

Its a shame they could not extend one of the Timaru to Wellington flights down to Oamaru like they use to do back in the F27 days so then they are not reliant on just OAM Pax alone to fill the aircraft.