Air New Zealand offers charter service to keep up with cargo demands

Monday, 6 April 2020

A long line of Air NZ planes are parked up at Nelson Airport.

Air New Zealand is stepping up its air cargo services to help make sure freight keeps moving during the coronavirus lockdown.

On Saturday Air New Zealand began its limited domestic schedule throughout the country, with only essential travel and air cargo to stay operational.

Air New Zealand aeroplanes grounded at Nelson Airport during lockdown.

While passenger flights have been drastically reduced, Air New Zealand is offering its cargo customers a charter service covering every port on its network (with the exception of London).

Air New Zealand National Cargo Manager Blair Gourdie said while the option to charter flights had always existed before the Covid-19 outbreak there was enough capacity within the company's commercial passenger services to carry the volumes of cargo moving around New Zealand and internationally.

The entrance to Nelson Airport during lockdown.

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He said with the reduced network, Air New Zealand Cargo had actively gone to market to support exporters by offering charter services to help keep products and businesses moving.

On Monday the airline began a cargo service from Auckland to Shanghai, with a Boeing 787 carrying 'premium local export goods'.

Another measure introduced by the airline was the concept of a multi-party charter agreement, designed to help small and medium sized exporters and importers move their goods.

This would give customers the option to purchase a single airfreight pallet position on a charter flight.

In Nelson, Air New Zealand's passenger air service has been reduced to a return service between Nelson and Wellington running between Monday and Friday.

The airline's 50-seat Q300 turboprop aircraft, for essential travel only, will depart from Nelson at 7:05am arriving in Wellington at 7:45am, with the return from Wellington departing at 3.25pm and arriving in Nelson at 4.10pm.

Gourdie said Nelson was a key cargo port for the airline.

'We know many businesses around the country are managing their way through the impacts of Covid-19 right now and this is one way we can get behind those in Nelson.

'We are keen to work closely with our cargo clients in Nelson to keep their products moving during these exceptional times.'

Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Ali Boswijk said given the current environment it was vital that export-focused businesses were able to operate have access to national and international markets.

'Freight and distribution services are essential links in the supply chain, they help to keep businesses functioning and people employed.'

Boswijk said while a lot of Nelson's cargo went through Port Nelson, producers with time-sensitive goods were heavily reliant on air freight to get their products to market on time.

'If Nelson has still got access to those routes, there's a level of security that we can still get things out quickly.'