Air NZ Axes All Hamilton International Operations

[Naki]

Hey Guys,

Air NZ is pulling out all remaining international flights from Hamilton.

QUOTE

Air New Zealand General Manager Tasman Pacific Airline Glen Sowry said today that the remaining Tasman service between Hamilton and Brisbane would be suspended from 25th April.[/quote]
Air NZ Media Release
Well that looks like Hamilton's International days have come and gone for the time being. I cannot see any other airline commiting to putting and Transtasman flights in to Hamilton in the near future cause of the current economic state. Shame for Hamilton airport and the city
I really hope the Rotorua will be able to pick up some Transtasman flights once the airport runway extension is complete. Work is running very well on the runway extension.

Cheers
Daniel

Last edited by Daniel on Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Njbb1995]

I'm beginning to dislike this recession

[Naki]

QUOTE (njbb1995 @ Jan 30 2009, 05:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm beginning to dislike this recession

Is there a recession you like ?!

[Njbb1995]

Theres only one answer.No.

[twinstarda42]

QUOTE (Daniel @ Jan 30 2009, 04:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Guys,

I really hope the Rotorua will be able to pick up some Transtasman flights once the airport runway extension is complete. Work is running very well on the runway extension.

Cheers
Daniel

Rotorua would be better trying to attract the likes of Jstar or Pac blue as air NZ seem to want to pull out of all of the regionals on the trans tasman routes - 3news article tonite wise - would be about the first time I would agree with hamiltons mayors on anything - air nz have been massively hyping up the fares for the last year or so out of Hamilton and Palmerston north(also landing charges was used as a reason for PN) before that and most likely dunedin - then coming back with 'lack of demand for the services' as reason for pulling out.

[greaneyr]

QUOTE (Daniel @ Jan 30 2009, 05:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I really hope the Rotorua will be able to pick up some Transtasman flights once the airport runway extension is complete. Work is running very well on the runway extension.

As much as I love the concept, I just don't see it happening. First Palmy, now Hamilton. In both cases, a service was being operated that went against hub and spoke, and I would say that all we're seeing is Air NZ bringing everything back in line again.

The only airport going against this trend now is Queenstown. To some extent, you could say the same about Dunedin, but to a much lesser extent. I'd be interested to know what demographic makes up the majority of passengers on the QN intl flights. Is it tourists, or just skiers from Aust? If it's skiers, then Rotorua doesn't really have much of a chance of drawing crowds since they're probably still too far from the NI skifields.

[chickenman]

QUOTE (greaneyr @ Jan 30 2009, 08:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The only airport going against this trend now is Queenstown. To some extent, you could say the same about Dunedin, but to a much lesser extent. I'd be interested to know what demographic makes up the majority of passengers on the QN intl flights. Is it tourists, or just skiers from Aust? If it's skiers, then Rotorua doesn't really have much of a chance of drawing crowds since they're probably still too far from the NI skifields.

You'd be surprised at the increasing number of business travellers and sports people (especially golf) who use the ZQN Intl flights. The skiers make up big numbers in winter, the asian/us market arrive by bus & generally don't fly in and out of QN.

Jamie

[benwynn]

And now some Dunedin reductions...Article

QUOTE

Air New Zealand is suspending its Dunedin-Sydney service from April 16 to October 24.
The airline currently operates two services a week between Dunedin and Sydney, and two services a week between Dunedin and Brisbane.
The Brisbane service will reduce to a weekly flight during the low months of May and June.
Today's announcement follows the airline's decision on Friday to stop its remaining trans-Tasman service from Hamilton.[/quote]

Last edited by Daniel on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[benwynn]

Who wants to go to Hamilton anyway? Im sure with the discontinuity of flights from Hamilton, they will perhaps subsidise the cost of a flight HLZ-AKL-BNE?

It sure is cheaper to fly BNE-AKL-WLG than it is BNE-WLG on most occasions (On Airnz)

[ardypilot]

QUOTE

Who wants to go to Hamilton anyway?[/quote]LOL thats abit overboard but yeah there are many places like that in the world ,i spend alot of time in Hamilton not a bad place really with the V8s ,Ham downs drags up the road and skiing and most things only acouple hours away including Raglan one of the best left hand breaks in the World for surfing ,really it has alot going for it as a City growing in size ,
So they expect all the Ozzys and others coming into town now to take a drive from Auckland for the V8s and other Big events ?
Im sure a carrier will take up there spot soon with now the Airbus380 coming into Auckland to OZ three days a week they will have to move business down here or face bust$$$...

[ardypilot]

QUOTE

Who wants to go to Hamilton anyway?[/quote]

These Guys:

Sunday 18 January 2009
Thomson Fly/First Choice Boeing 757-200 G-OOBE arrived at Hamilton from Rarotonga as "Thomson 955".
Tue 20 January 2009
Thomson Fly/First Choice Boeing 757-200 G-OOBE departed Hamilton for Hobart and was noted later in the week flying from Perth to Singapore.

http://mrcaviation.blogspot.com/

Last edited by twinstarda42 on Tue Feb 03, 2009 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[ardypilot]

QUOTE (Naki @ Jan 30 2009, 08:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is there a recession you like ?!

... on a slightly related note- this was on stuff.co.nz today:

[cowpatz]

At the end of the day it just is not possible to make money with half full aircraft. Any routes that dont make a return will be reviewed. These ones have been reviewed and just dont cut the mustard. Queenstown is the only international regional airport that cuts it.
No patronage no service...it is quite simple. The recession has just accelerated what was inevitably going to happen.

[creator2003]

Sometimes ya Feel like NZ is made up of only Auckland /Wellington/NZCH & Queenstown and forget the rest ,I really hope a carrier sticks it to Airnz and shows them how they could of done it themselfs ,,
Airnz say that there market is 88.000 ppl crossing the ditch per year from Auckland shared with 7 other carriers ,but Hamilton has the V8s once a year with way over 140.000 + people coming to the event just in one weekend most fans coming from outta town or from across the ditch ,that there could be at least 6 months of $$$$ or more to them ...someone will see that there could be a very good market there for the right carrier ..

[Naki]

Hmm yes but the V8s is only one weekend per year ...there are bigger Aussie towns without international services ..Air NZ would be relying on mostly local outbound from Hamilton traffic - cant see many Aussies coming direct to Hamilton to the sights ..unlike Queenstown...if its viable I guess another carrier will give it a go but I can't see it myself...especially at the mo with the current financial mess

[creator2003]

Yeah i suppose ,thats just one attraction and there are more around , i dont really think it will happen quickly but i do think it will happen ,they have to pay for the terminal and new parts they have done in the last couple of years somehow ?
just sad

[greaneyr]

QUOTE (creator2003 @ Feb 3 2009, 06:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah i suppose ,thats just one attraction and there are more around , i dont really think it will happen quickly but i do think it will happen ,they have to pay for the terminal and new parts they have done in the last couple of years somehow ?
just sad

Yeah I agree mate. It sucks.

You mention discontent about this on forums and there's always people (including me depending on my mood) who pipe up with a discussion of why a particular service is/was not viable etc but in reality, it just sucks. Freedom Air would have done their homework before they put intl services into Palmy, Hamilton and Dunedin. Nobody makes business decisions just because they feel like it. Those three airports all passed the all-leveling 'feasibility analysis' process to the point where Freedom considered it was worthwhile doing... and yet now everyone is citing a million and one reasons why the service wasn't viable.

You'll notice I've never said a word against Hamilton because they've lost the very same battle we lost here in Palmy last year. I really feel for them.

What really stinks about it all is that it's a move that suits the airlines, not one that suits the customers. Hub and spoke is based on the notion that one sector carries a lot of overheads for an airline, so the idea is to cram as many people onto that sector at a time, which means using the biggest aircraft you can economically operate. When you do this from smaller airports (which NZ has a lot of) the flights will, inevitably, end up half full. That doesn't mean the service isn't viable. It just means their model doesn't work for New Zealand. If they used smaller aircraft, they wouldn't have the problem. But because of the high overheads per sector, that would just push the price up. It's a model that's flawed. As is the fact that whenever the price of oil goes up dramatically, airlines implode.

Someone needs to overhaul the entire airline industry. What worked in 1978 doesn't work in 2009, but they all seem intent on sticking to it like it does.