‘We're going to get this deal done:’ city seeks Aussie flights
Saturday, 18 May 2024
Trans Tasman flights from Dunedin to Brisbane ended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dunedin Airport representatives were in Australia talking with airlines and airports about resuming that travel.
It comes as a charter flight from Fiji arrives in the city next week.
Daniel De Bono is on a mission to get Trans-Tasman flights reinstated to Dunedin.
The Dunedin Airport chief executive has been in Australia talking with airport and airline representatives, and when asked if some of those talks were more advanced than others he was unequivocal.
“Very much so,” he said on the phone to Stuff, shortly after touching down in Melbourne.
“I'm still really optimistic we're going to get this deal done.”
Dunedin’s last international flight, a Virgin Australia service to Brisbane, was suspended in 2020 due to the global pandemic but never resumed.
The major focus for the airport company was Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with “Queensland is very much the target”, De Bono, who was joined on the trip with business development general manager Megan Crawford, said.
As a leisure market Queensland was aimed at Otago and Southland families seeking sunshine, and was also home to a large numbers of Kiwis living in the wider area.
“Getting people on the aircraft out of Dunedin to go to Australia, that's easy . . . that sells itself but that won’t be enough of a service to sustain itself.”
“We need Aussies coming the other way.”
De Bono, who had been in the role for 18 months, said Dunedin Airport’s catchment was not just serving the city, but also the wider region.
Part of the strategic planning of the airport, which is half owned by the Government and the Dunedin City Council, was to work with other airports in the region including Queenstown and Invercargill.
That grouping was called the ‘Southern Alliance’, with the representatives working towards a common goal of “how do we serve and grow the broader region”, De Bono said.
That could include Australians flying into Dunedin, exploring the likes of Otago, The Catlins, Southland and Waitaki before flying out of Queenstown.
That wasn’t unrealistic given the South Island was a major drawcard for international visitors, he said.
But to entice an airline to a new route, such as Dunedin, involved using a “commercial tool-kit”, he said.
That included marketing incentives and discounts in an effort to reduce the risk to an airline “because there are a lot of costs for line to start a new route”.
The airport had not been sitting on its hands in trying to attract airlines to Dunedin, but De Bono admitted they hadn’t shared that work.
He was supportive of the work by Benjamin Paterson, 14, who was fronting a campaign to have Trans-Tasman flights reinstated to Dunedin, and had collected thousands of signatures.
De Bono said the airport was supportive of Paterson’s campaign, which “kind of cemented our view that actually there is real support for this in our community”.
Paterson had helped raise awareness, which was something the airport company had fallen down a bit in recent years, De Bono said.
“We've been working hard on getting the job done versus talking about what we're doing,” he said.
That work included talking with tourism agencies and bureaus on both sides of the Tasman in a time of economic uncertainty.
Margins were thin for airlines and any global volatility, such as conflict in the Middle East could have major impacts.
De Bono noted that Dunedin used to have Trans-Tasman services to other Australian centres, including Sydney and Melbourne, and that could not be ruled out in the future.
Previous flights had often been at non family friendly times, and the airport company was hopeful of a late afternoon turnaround flight whether that be from a low cost or full service carrier.
But in the short-term there was one international flight to look forward to; a special charter plane from Fiji Airways on May 26, when the Drua take on the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
“That is a really good example of the capability we have as an airport,” De Bono said of the expected arrival of the Boeing 737-800 Max 8, which would be similar to future Trans-Tasman aircraft.
That would be the first time an airline had flown a full plane to the Pacific Island from Dunedin: “So that in itself is kind of testament to what's possible with the newer generation aircraft, and the runway we have”.
Dunedin Airport had been working with Fiji Airways “on a relationship standpoint” over the last 18 months.
The one-off charter was the first opportunity to “dip your toes in the water, so to speak”
That could also open up the possibility of future international connections, with the likes of North America and Asia.
“So we'll keep working on it.”
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