Return to Mt Cook

Then in 1920 the company acquired and operated a number of ex-World War 1 aircraft. These were later followed by Auster, Cessna 185 and Pilatus Porter aircraft to operate ski flights that continue to this day.

In order to feed the ski plane operation as well as the company’s burgeoning operations at Queenstown, Mount Cook Airline was formally established using the venerable DC-3. Later replaced with Hawker Siddeley 748s, in 1991 the airline became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air New Zealand and the 748s were replaced by ATR 72s in the mid nineties. In 2002 services to Mt Cook were taken off the schedule, for the first time breaking the airline’s connection with its birthplace.

For 10 years Mt Cook was without a scheduled service. However, in mid-2012 Mark Sutherland, ATR fleet captain and technical manager for Mount Cook Airline was given the task of getting an airline operation back into Mt Cook for a trial summer season.

“Very early on we made the decision we would only operate into a certified airfield,” Sutherland said, highlighting the fact that at the time Mt Cook airfield was not certified. This required working with the owners of the Hermitage Hotel who are also the owners of the airfield, as well as the regulatory authorities to get the airfield up to certification standard.

The Mt Cook region is probably the most extreme environment for terrain and weather in New Zealand in any season. In summer the nearby McKenzie Basin becomes a focal point for gliding activity, not to mention the high number of tourist flights by helicopter and fixed-wing operators. The airline was adamant this had to be an IFR operation from takeoff to a final approach fix. As Sutherland explained: “In a place like the Southern Alps the placement of the instrument approach is largely decided for you by terrain.

“You can’t just put a way-point anywhere. Likewise you can’t just put an instrument approach anywhere – it has to be in a place that affords all the necessary buffers and clearance from terrain whilst allowing the aircraft to descend to the lowest minimum descent altitude.

“Conveniently, Lake Pukaki provided the smooth constant elevation for the approach path to be conducted over. On this approach we go down to 3,230ft on the RNAV (GNSS) approach and that is an entirely achievable altitude for us to descend to prior to the crew conducting the final visual component up the valley,” Sutherland explained.

Having completed the operational and economic feasibility assessments, simulator time for the demanding operation began as a prelude to the resumption of services on December 23 2012.

While simulator training created familiarity with the complex environment, flying the route for the first time Sutherland was abuzz, describing the experience as “fantastic”.

“There were no surprises and the most hard-working person on the flightdeck was the pilot not flying who in addition to his normal duties, spent a great deal of time on the radio liaising with the gliding and tourist traffic. ” Sutherland explained that a lot of preparatory time was spent working with other operators in the area to ensure everything would be as surprise-free as possible for everyone.

“Since the ATR’s operation is totally IFR meant it was vital other operators knew exactly where we would be at any given time. ” ZK-MCX’s landing at Mt Cook on the inaugural flight after nearly 10 years’ absence was the culmination of a great deal of effort by the management team at Mount Cook Airline, the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority and Airways Corporation. Equally it was a success for the operators of Mt Cook airfield and the Hermitage Hotel.

Operations for the summer season finished on January 27. Decisions on whether future seasons will be operated will be made in the coming months.

In the meantime, for everyone involved it was satisfying to see a Mount Cook airliner back in its Turangiwaiwai.