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All Agricultural Operators Will Want To Attend The 3rd Nzam Conference To Be Held In Wellington In October (Refer Text). Topics Such As Chemical Drift And Improving The Spread Of Dry Fertiliser Will Be Covered. Pictured Is One Of The More Popular Aircraft For Agricultural Purposes, The Fletcher Fu-24.
New Zealand News
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Nz Helicopter Delay
The New Zealand Government has delayed the announcement of its future small ship helicopter until the Royal Australian Navy has made its decision in November. The Royal New Zealand Navy has a similar requirement to the RAN and is expected to purchase between four and six helicopters in a contract valued at up to $NZ200m. The RAN has reduced contenders for its competition to two helicopters, the Westland Super Lynx and the Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite. The Australian order is for 14 helicopters with the possibility of follow-on orders. The New Zealand government has delayed its decision stating that the project is a collaborative effort with Australia. The decision makes sense as compatibility between the helicopters of the two countries would save considerable money in both acquisition costs and support.
Souwest Finished Before Starting
Increased competition by all four trans-Tasman carriers forced new entrant Souwest to bow out of the market before it had even entered it. The group was formed in Invercargill, on the South Island, by local businessmen who were trying to promote the city as New Zealand’s southernmost international gateway. The new carrier was to operate between Invercargill and Brisbane utilising a Boeing 737-400 leased from Air Nauru. Souwest was offering a promotional price of $400 for its charters until all of the other carriers, Air NZ, Qantas, Freedom Air and Kiwi International all lowered their fares. In a surprise move Qantas dropped its fares to a common rating of $399 from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The group is said to have lost $NZ500,000 trying to bring services to Invercargill. Incidentally, this is the second time the group has tried to do this. In 1993 the group first tried and came within a week of its first scheduled flight to Melbourne when it folded.
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Nzaaa Conference
The 33rd NZAAA Conference is being held this year from October 2 to 5 at The James Cook Centra in Wellington. The conference is to be one of the highlights on the New Zealand aviation calendar and should be a must for anyone in the aerial agriculture industry. Of interest is the opportunity for those attending the conference to undertake refresher training for the new Chemical Rating that will become mandatory later in the year. One of the guest speakers will be Dennis Gardisson of the USA who will speak on spray systems and their evaluation and the minimisation of spray drift. For further information on the conference please call the Aviation Industry Association of NZ on (04) 472 2707 or fax (04) 471 1314.
Kiwi Refocuses On Customer Service
After a number of operational problems recently, Kiwi has decided to refocus its attention on its passengers which it feels have been recently let down by the airline. The recent Mt Ruapehu eruptions, early morning fog at Hamilton and the night curfew at Hamilton Airport have all contributed to Kiwi’s problems and have resulted in flight delays and cancellations. To Kiwi’s credit however it has provided travellers with a number of reconciliation packages for the disruptions. To improve the efficiency of the airline, Kiwi plans to introduce new flight schedules throughout its network and is soon to introduce a new computerised booking system. Kiwi has also recently been dealt a blow with the news that passengers on Kiwi flights are no longer covered for losses if the airline folds. The decision was made by Mike Henry Ltd, the group that covers the passengers for such an event, and was due to the fact that Kiwi is not an accredited member of IATA and has not operated for three years.
Freedom Air Increase Services
Freedom Air is to introduce two extra flights over the Tasman due to increased demand for its services recently. The new flights will be between Brisbane and Dunedin and Brisbane and Hamilton. Freedom Air now flies 11 weekly services between Australia and New Zealand with six flights to Sydney and five to Brisbane. The airline has recently released details on load factors which stand at 80% and indicates how popular the new budget-priced airline has become. In other news a Freedom Air flight from Brisbane arrived at Dunedin airport to find neither runway lights nor ATC and had to abort the landing. The aircraft had arrived 50 minutes before its scheduled landing time due to an early departure and friendly tailwinds and as such arrived at the airport before the ATC start-up time of 6am.
Private Atc Start Up
In a move that has been welcomed by Airways Corporation, a private ATC company has been formed by two ex-Airways Corp controllers and will take over Airways Corp at either Hamilton or Palmerston North airports. The company is the Air Traffic Control Association and is the first privately owned ATC company in New Zealand and may fast-track the proposed deregulation of the ATC industry.
Briefs
Kiwi International has been cleared of using untrained cabin staff. It was found that there were work experience trainees on a 757 flight earlier in the year, however there was the usual number of fully trained staff in attendance.
Air NZ is to resume its weekly service from Christchurch to Hobart on October 19 using 737-200s.
New domestic carrier Value Airlines has changed its name to Discovery Airlines in a bid to distinguish itself from ill-fated US carrier ValuJet. The new airline is scheduled to begin from November flying between Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.
Airways Consulting has been awarded a Tradenz Export Commendation for its work in marketing its expertise in satellite-based ATC systems. Last financial year it reported earnings of $NZ3m, up 200% on the previous year.
The P-40E Kittyhawk previously belonging to Graham Hoskins has finally arrived in New Zealand in the back of a RNZAF Hercules. The Kittyhawk was swapped for an F4U-5 Corsair by the Air Force Museum at Wigram
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