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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Oct 14, 2014 17:30:38 GMT 12
from the Rotorua Daily Post....Rotorua loses direct flights to SydneyBy APNZ staff | 2:11PM - Tuesday, October 14, 2014 Rotorua to Sydney direct flights are being dropped because they are uneconomical. They were
widely hailed as the savior of the Rotorua tourism industry when launched in 2009.ROTORUA will lose its transtasman international air service from the end of April next year.
Rotorua Regional Airport, the Rotorua District Council and Air New Zealand announced the termination of the Rotorua to Sydney direct flights today.
The last flight will be on April 25th.
The council has contributed to trans-tasman operations since 2009, but based on the returns, believes the budget is best invested elsewhere — a decision supported by the airport company and Air New Zealand.
Ratepayers' net contribution to the Rotorua to Sydney service in the last financial year was $1 million, but has been more than $5 million since the start of the service.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said the council's decision to stop funding transtasman flights was the prudent thing to do.
“This council is committed to prudent financial management and our decision to stop funding the flights is part of the process we have been going through to ensure greater financial clarity, transparency and efficiency.”
“The anticipated boost from transtasman flights hasn't happened and council considers the funding that has been going to that service can be better used in other areas,” she said.
Rotorua Airport chief executive Alastair Rhodes said the decision was supported by the airport board and the airport would focus on future opportunities, including commercial land development, strategic relationships with other airports and North to South Island tourism flows, including a potential direct flight to Queenstown.
Mr Rhodes said the aviation market had changed significantly since the transtasman flights were launched in 2009, resulting in airlines moving such flights away from regional hubs to major airports.
“Due to these changes, the airport and the council firmly believe that the airport's commercial network efforts are best focused on where we have our competitive advantage — looking to grow our North to South Island tourism links, providing better domestic access for locals and greater support for the local tourism sector.”
Mr Rhodes said the airport remained focused on ensuring efficient and effective air connectivity to support the region's growth development, and hopes to start discussions in the next month on a regional integrated air strategy in order to achieve this.
“We agree with the tourism sector and regional industries that air connectivity is a key element in the future development of our region, but it needs to be sustainable for everyone involved,” he said.• For the full story read tomorrow's Rotorua Daily Post.www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503438&objectid=11342257
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 14, 2014 20:11:54 GMT 12
Hmm, will they bring international flights back to Hamilton?
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Post by suthg on Oct 14, 2014 20:16:45 GMT 12
And isn't Queenstown to be made International in the future? Limited sized planes to get in there.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Oct 14, 2014 20:18:51 GMT 12
Queenstown has been an international airport for years.
I'd say they probably have considerably more international flights than Wellington.
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Post by suthg on Oct 14, 2014 20:21:55 GMT 12
OK then it was getting nav and approach electronics upgraded to align with International requirements.
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Post by TS on Oct 14, 2014 20:49:12 GMT 12
Won't be long before they fly into Queenstown at night then....  Hamilton no to close to AKL sorry. |
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Post by raymond on Oct 14, 2014 21:00:14 GMT 12
This means that there will be 3 "international airports" in the SI and 2 in the North. Number of different "International Airports" in NZ over the last 10 years is 8!
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Post by Peter Lewis on Oct 14, 2014 21:36:26 GMT 12
Well that's really good news.
The Rotorua Council and airport people have really shafted GA over the last few years in their expensive and misguided attempts to make it an International Airport, seduced no doubt by glitz and glamour.
They have virtually killed the aero club and access to local private flying has been strictly controlled by the over-officious security nazis.
Really glad to see its all turned to custard - feel sorry for the local ratepayers though.
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Post by haughtney1 on Oct 15, 2014 0:33:08 GMT 12
I suppose at least it was attempted, having said that, Rotorua is a place to visit, it's not a destination. I sometimes think that the NZ tourism industry as a whole misses the point at times, local egos get in the way of a logical mindset. e.g. Why would you fly to Rotorua first, without a visit to Auckland? Rotorua certainly has it's attractions, but there is a lot more to see in the NI than just mud pools and the local Maoris poking their tounges' out.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 15, 2014 10:31:15 GMT 12
Absolutely agree with you. Rotorua was the poster-place of NZ tourism in the 1950's but nowadays most international tourists want to go to Queenstown, Hobbiton, Auckland, Bay of Islands etc. Rotorua is a nice enough town but it's a tourist trap which presents a really false image of NZ as a whole. Plus it stinks.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Oct 15, 2014 11:49:28 GMT 12
Stinkyness is subjective. When I left school at the end of 1970, I did an electrical apprenticeship at the old Tomoana freezing works near Hastings. Most of that apprenticeship was spent working in the rendering department and the three slaughter-houses (mutton, beef and pigs) as the tradesman sparky I was placed with was the electrician looking after those departments. Yet I never used to notice the stink after the first week. Remember that putrid smell from the old-style freezing works? That was the stink from the rendering department. Anyway, regarding what tourists want....I know of quite a few Aussies who skip everything except the Queenstown area when they regularly holiday in New Zealand. They fly into Queenstown, have their holiday in that area, then fly out of Queenstown. They aren't the slightest bit interested in the rest of the country (including the Bay of Islands, Auckland and Hobbiton), only doing the occasional nearby side-trip to Fiordland, Aoraki-Mount Cook National Park and the West Coast Glaciers. |
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Post by flyinkiwi on Oct 15, 2014 11:54:17 GMT 12
I lived in Rotovegas for 8 months. After living there for a couple of weeks you don't notice the smell but it is only in the lakeside geothermal areas where its really bad. In western suburbs and north towards Kawaha Point and Nongotaha you can only smell it when the wind is blowing in that direction.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 15, 2014 12:17:40 GMT 12
Tourists don't visit meat works, and most won't be spending weeks in Rotorua to dull their senses to the sulphur stink.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 15, 2014 12:19:23 GMT 12
Is that scene in the photo of the Maori challenge at Rotorua airport a one-off or do they do that for every arrival?
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Oct 15, 2014 12:21:29 GMT 12
That would have been the inaugural flight.
I can vaguely recall seeing a similar Maori Welcome photo when Air NZ's first DC-8 arrived at Mangere on delivery from California in 1965 (I was 11 years old).
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Post by Calum on Oct 15, 2014 14:04:38 GMT 12
Well it's a bugger for me and my family.
We've flown into/out of there at Xmas every year since it became an option. Simply because it's only 50 mins to my parents place. Rather than 3 plus hours from Auckland...
Before then we used Hamilton.
Perhaps if Australia/NZ can ever sort out making flights between the 2 countries domestic (or international lite), as has been talked about for the past 10 yrs, there maybe a chance that smaller airports like Rotorua/Hamilton could get some Trans Tasman flights
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 15, 2014 17:27:50 GMT 12
Wasn't Tauranga International for a bit? Or was that just wishful thinking on their part?
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Post by Darren Masters on Oct 15, 2014 20:29:22 GMT 12
Won't be long before they fly into Queenstown at night them.... Hamilton no to close to AKL sorry. They are already looking at night ops and making plans. www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11250546Hey, what's wrong with Rotorua? Ha ha, I quite enjoy going down there for a weekend break with the Mrs. Good places to eat and a fair bit to do. In saying that I also enjoy going North to the bach at Tutukaka... |
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Post by TS on Oct 15, 2014 21:01:56 GMT 12
There you go it all comes down to good correct management. Plus the fact that there is more to do in Queenstown than watching mud and have a tongue pocked out at ya.....  |
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Post by raymond on Oct 15, 2014 21:44:42 GMT 12
Perhaps if Australia/NZ can ever sort out making flights between the 2 countries domestic (or international lite), as has been talked about for the past 10 yrs, there maybe a chance that smaller airports like Rotorua/Hamilton could get some Trans Tasman flights Cant see that changing much MAF requirements wont change Customs will probably be the same and in OZ security is the same for Domestic as it is for International. |
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