Auckland-Invercargill direct flights 'sure' to return: Airport manager

Friday, 29 May 2020

Invercargill Airport general manager Nigel Finnerty is confident direct flights to the city from Auckland will return in future.

The Invercargill Airport general manager is ''sure'' direct flights from Auckland and Wellington will return to the city, but it's unclear when that may be.

Nigel Finnerty said prior to Covid-19 the airport had about 10 flights a day which connected to Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.

Currently it has three flights a day all connecting to Christchurch.

From June 1 that number will increase to four flights a day during the week and three flights a day at weekends, also all from Christchurch.

Some additional flights were being added, including for Queens Birthday weekend, and as demand grew Finnerty expected more flights into and out of Invercargill.

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He was now seeing more tourists moving through the airport, he said.

''As the demand from the business community grows and travel confidence returns I am sure we will see those direct connections to Auckland and Wellington come back.

''Our airport is set up to support the [Auckland to Invercargill] jets so I am sure they will come back.''

The direct Auckland-Invercargill flights were introduced with fanfare in August 2019 and were running at 84 per cent capacity after just three months.

Air New Zealand's head of tourism and regional affairs Reuben Levermore indicated the direct Auckland to Invercargill flights could only return once Covid-19 social distancing rules on planes were set aside.

The one-metre social distancing rules meant it could sell just 65 percent of seats on its A320 [jets] that flew direct between Auckland and Invercargill.

''If and when these requirements are lifted, our services will become more commercially viable.

''Airlines have never been through a situation as severe as Covid-19 and, like others, we need to cover the costs of operating.''

Air New Zealand had received an encouraging response from leisure travellers but it also relied on business travel for many of its routes and would be monitoring corporate demand, Levermore said.

The airline valued the support of the Southland community and was keen to continue to add services to enable economic recovery, he said.

In regards to the control tower services at Invercargill Airport being canned by Airways, Levermore said he was confident safety would not be compromised.