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Post by suthg on Feb 24, 2015 12:54:05 GMT 12
I did! I paid for a 25min flight in her at WOW and got to see my brother's farm at the outside of left turn past Martinborough as we headed back. Fabulous old girl!!
Sent from my GT-I9300T using proboards
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Feb 24, 2015 14:25:07 GMT 12
Imagine how awesome a flight from Auckland to Whakatane and back will be. Air Chathams have got the Whakatane timetable up on their website now, although no mention of the DC-3 running some services yet. I guess it will be a case of “watch that space!”
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 24, 2015 19:44:58 GMT 12
I had an Eagle Beech 1900 with the black fern on it fly over the house this afternoon nice and low. I guess we won't see them much longer
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Post by pjw4118 on Mar 2, 2015 9:36:50 GMT 12
I dont think AIr NZ is keen on any regional flights. I went to book a trip for work to Timaru,, with bag $841 !!! No thanks , a trip AK to Ch return plus two days car hire was less than half. So how long can the Timaru service survive at these prices ? To make matters worse , that night on TV , Air NZ were advertising return to Perth for ..... $841. Maybe our meetings need to be in Australia these days.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Mar 19, 2015 10:10:24 GMT 12
from the Whakatane Beacon....New airline takes first bookingsBy NERYDA McNABB | Wednesday, March 18, 2015BROCHURES: Air Chathams commercial manager Noel Gillespie with the new Whakatane Air Services brochures, detailing flight times and fares. — Photo: Louis Klaassen.AIR CHATHAMS is training flight attendants and taking its first bookings as it counts down to the launch of air services in Whakatane.
Commercial manager Noel Gillespie was in the Eastern Bay last week talking to travel agents and distributing brochures ahead of the airline’s takeover in April.
He emphasised the flexibility of the airline with its 50-seater Convair and 18-seater Metroliner aircraft, and their desire to build a service reflecting the needs of Eastern Bay people.
“We are wanting to work very closely with the community. We want it to be a win-win.”
Mr Gillespie said they had initially planned to brand the airline in a way that had synergies with Whakatane but there had not been enough time to do this so, for the time being, it would be simply called Whakatane Air Services, operated by Air Chathams.
They began receiving calls more than three weeks ago from people wanting to make bookings, which could now be done via the redesigned Air Chathams website with flights ranging from $89 to $339.
Air New Zealand is due to fly its last flight out of Whakatane at 6.50am on April 28th and Air Chathams first flight to Whakatane will leave Auckland Airport at 7.15am.
At this stage the Convair would fly out of Whakatane in the morning and back in the evening, Mr Gillespie said.
The 18-seater Metroliner would fly in from Auckland and spend the day at the Whakatane Airport until its return flight to Auckland at 4.30pm. Between times it would be available for charters, Mr Gillespie said.
“If you have a group of 16 wanting to go to Wellington, just ask us. Since it is sitting here we can offer a pretty sharp deal.”
Eventually the airline hoped to offer more of the 50-seat flights.
“We would like to use the Convair all the time but we have to build traffic up and we are hoping by working with the agents and the community we will be able to do that,” he said.
“The agents have told us that one of the problems they have is getting decent-size groups here.”
“We are hoping that with the extra capacity that’s there, and the ability to be flexible that we can build the market.”
“We are hoping the Convair will stimulate the market and we can change the schedule to whatever is required. We will listen to whatever the people tell us they want.”
Three flight attendants from Whakatane — two women and a man — are now being trained in the Chatham Islands on the world’s only Convair simulator.
Mr Gillespie said they would then work alongside attendants on other Air Chathams routes to gather experience before the Whakatane air services began.• Air Chathams — Whakatane Air Serviceswww.whakatanebeacon.co.nz/2015/03/new-airline-takes-first-bookings
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Post by thelensofhistory on Apr 13, 2015 21:06:46 GMT 12
Sad news but scrapping Hamilton Auckland...Honestly why would you not drive or get the Naked Bus? By the time you check-in, wait, board, land, disembark etc etc you would have been home way before going for another option. Same applies for other routes... Nicely put. Before I moved to the deep south I wondered why people bothered flying between the likes of Dunedin and Christchurch for the same reason. The only away around this would be to allow people to board a flight like you would a commuter bus.
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Post by camtech on Apr 14, 2015 10:07:53 GMT 12
One of the reasons for using the short air trips is when heading overseas - less hassle with luggage, no issue with getting on a bus or arranging car parking. Since we lost our international services from Hamilton, a number of people I am aware of having done it. It has been high on our list of choices when travelling overseas.
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Post by Bruce on Apr 14, 2015 10:33:24 GMT 12
The problem with the Auckland - Hamilton hop is Turbine engines such as the PT6 have a lot of Cycle-Lifed components. Using up a cycle on a 25 minute hop is essentially wasting engine life as it "ages" the engine disproportionately. Not so bad on a turbine single, but on a twin it gets expensive. short hop in a turbine twin will always be marginal economically.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 14, 2015 11:12:02 GMT 12
Sad news but scrapping Hamilton Auckland...Honestly why would you not drive or get the Naked Bus? By the time you check-in, wait, board, land, disembark etc etc you would have been home way before going for another option. Same applies for other routes... I recently flew from Auckland Domestic to Blenheim for the Omaka airshow. So I had to get to Auckland and used the bus. It involved: - Getting to the Cambridge bus stop in town - ride with my sister - Intercity bus to Manukau - Airport link bus to Domestic airport (a nearly 40 minute bus ride!) - A wait of over three hours in the terminal for the flight - Air New Zealand Q300 to Blenheim Coming back it was - - Air New Zealand Q300 to Auckland - There was NO Airport link bus that could get me to Manukau on time to get my Intercity bus so I had pre-arranged for a friend to meet me at the airport and give me a lift to Manukau - however he never showed up!! So thankfully Warren Denholm was on the flight with me and he kindly gave me the lift instead, phew - An uncomfortable 20 minute wait at Manukau in darkness where everyone looks like they want to mug you - Intercity bus to Cambridge - Lift from bus stop to home with my sister You might just think "Oh it's less time on the bus but not so, the amount of hassle, waiting about and lack of comfort (the Airport link bus was, as usual full and standing room only for example) completely overshadows the benefits of a simple flight that the likes of elderly or business people could enjoy with the Air New Zealand Link flight. The other alternative is an Airport Shuttle van but that costs a lot if it's just one of you going. For the price you might as well fly....
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Post by Bruce on Apr 14, 2015 17:51:55 GMT 12
yeah, if you are after convenient Auckland - Hamilton (and return) public transport, you'd be better off catching a Unicorn... (they're easier to find...)
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Apr 14, 2015 20:33:36 GMT 12
From Masterton it isn't too bad...
1. Catch the train to Wellington. 2. A short 2-minutes walk from the train to the Airport Flyer bus stop. 3. An Airport Flyer bus every 20 minutes off-peak, or every 15-minutes during peak periods. 4. Off the bus at Wellington Airport Terminal, straight up the escalator and check-in.
Still, those Masterton-Auckland Air NZ Link flights were handy, especially if heading up there for the weekend, as one could catch the Friday evening flight to Auckland, then fly home again on the Sunday evening. As I was always stay in downtown Auckland (right in Queen Street opposite the Town Hall), the Airbus service via Dominion Road dropped me off directly across the road from the hotel. Heading back to the airport, the Airbus stopped right outside the hotel front door.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Apr 14, 2015 22:25:20 GMT 12
When I was recently in Hamilton (for the balloon festival) I saw a shuttle bus advertising "Collect you from your door in Hamilton then directly to Auckland Airport - $80".
That'd be pretty hard for an airline to beat.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 14, 2015 23:25:36 GMT 12
I'll bet that is only when they have a full van-load though! And it will be extra from Cambridge - they charge $40-$54 from Cambridge to Hamilton Airport!
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Post by suthg on Apr 15, 2015 7:41:47 GMT 12
I enquired recently and if my memory serves me, it was $110 or so from Tokoroa to Auckland Airport. They even used to have an entry in all of the local directories but only in the Hamilton one now.
The last time my wife and I went travelling for a week to ChCh, we drove and parked at Air NZ's offsite parking - about 3kms towards Auckland City but you can do your booking in and everything right there, and they take you and your luggage in a shuttle to the airport. The parking was just $6/day. So for $42 convenience, plus your petrol there and back, it was a reasonable option.
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Post by ErrolC on Apr 15, 2015 8:48:40 GMT 12
Sad news but scrapping Hamilton Auckland...Honestly why would you not drive or get the Naked Bus? By the time you check-in, wait, board, land, disembark etc etc you would have been home way before going for another option. Same applies for other routes... I recently flew from Auckland Domestic to Blenheim for the Omaka airshow. So I had to get to Auckland and used the bus. It involved: - Getting to the Cambridge bus stop in town - ride with my sister - Intercity bus to Manukau - Airport link bus to Domestic airport ( a nearly 40 minute bus ride!) - A wait of over three hours in the terminal for the flight - Air New Zealand Q300 to Blenheim ... The other alternative is an Airport Shuttle van but that costs a lot if it's just one of you going. For the price you might as well fly.... Yikes! Google says 17min by car, 13min without traffic. No wonder the recommended train connection is at Papatoetoe - this avoids most of the slow bus bit to Manukau. The train doesn't help Dave, I imagine an extra change in the journey probably outweighs any any possible theoretical improvement by training down to Papakura.
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Post by Brett on Apr 15, 2015 8:55:40 GMT 12
For kiwithrottlejockey Here is the newest service from Masterton. Unfortunately there is no beverage service, and the toilet facilities leave much to be desired.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 15, 2015 10:12:28 GMT 12
Errol, the surprising thing about the Airport bus was it went all round the suburbs doing domestic pick ups and let offs for local people like any urban bus. I am sure it never used to do that a few years back when I have caught that bus before, almost like two routes have been combined. It went all round Manukau and Papatoetoe before we got to the airport. Plus there was no info given in the bus about which terminal it visited first. I was pretty sure we'd go to Domestic Terminal first, which we did, but a lot of foreigners were anxious as they did not know the place at all. Pretty poor service.
Getting to the airport more than three hours before my flight was better than spending that time at Manukau I guess. And it's interesting who you see in the Domestic terminal waiting area. In the space of 30 minutes I spotted Robbie Rakete, then Te Radar, and then Mike McRoberts!
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Post by ErrolC on Apr 15, 2015 11:14:04 GMT 12
I assume that the 380 Airporter service (which goes from Onehunga to the Airport then Papatoetoe and Manukau) is used by a fair number of airport workers, and not just passengers. You definitely want this service to stop at Papatoetoe Train Station, as it has more trains then Manukau (which is on it's own little spur, the Manukau City Centre is an irritating distance from the main rail line). This is different from the two routes that start at Downtown (which take 45-60 min according to the Airport website).
How the Auckland bus contracts work is a bit broken, and they are in the final stages of re-negotiating them (awaiting sign-off by someone in Wellington I think). This will make more options available to Auckland Transport. The Airport has little incentive to make it easier to get there by public transport, they would rather collect parking fees in various forms or charges from taxi/shuttles.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 15, 2015 11:21:53 GMT 12
That would explain that strange route then. I didn't realise there are different airport bus services. They accepted my prepaid (through Intercity) ticket without hassle.
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Post by baronbeeza on Apr 24, 2015 13:18:36 GMT 12
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