Whenuapai – Wellington flights?

The Herald reports:

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has clipped the wings of a fledgling regional airline before it can get off the ground, rejecting plans to operate domestic flights from Whenuapai airbase, northwest of Auckland, to Wellington.

Kiwi Regional Airlines (KRA) chief executive Ewan Wilson has responded by accusing the Government of bias, questioning its role in who uses the military airbase given the government’s major shareholding in competitor Air New Zealand.

Selling our remaining shares in Air NZ would solve that problem.

The airline, backed by Sir George Seymour National College director Nicole Domett and used car dealer Eugene Williams of 2 Cheap Cars, was in the process of buying three aircraft for the new services with plans to launch at the end of the year at the earliest.

An airline backed by a used car company called “2 Cheap Cars”. Hmmmn. Not sure I’ll be rushing to book a flight.

Two SAAB 34-seat planes would begin flights with a third to be added, but the Civil Aviation Authority must authorise an air operating certificate before KRA can launch.

The SAABs would take around two hour to fly to Wellington. So overall transit time from the North Shore may not vary a lot.