Sounds Air: This small Kiwi airline is getting an unexpected showcase to the world

Tuesday, 14 May 2024

Sounds Air has 10 aircraft in its fleet including six Pilatus PC12.

The first that Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford knew of the YouTube video about his airline was when a staff member alerted him.

Crawford had no idea that his airline would be heavily featured on the hugely popular channel by aviation vlogger Noel Philips.

“(He’s) the ultimate sort of mystery traveller,” Crawford told Stuff Travel.

Philips has a significant online presence with 1.5 million followers on Facebook and more than 500,000 subscribers on YouTube. The good news for the small Blenheim-based airline is that he described his experience with it as “absolutely amazing”.

He took two flights with Sounds Air on its Pilatus PC12 aircraft, a short hop from Wellington to Blenheim, before being offered the prime seat up front next to the pilot on the service to Christchurch.

Philips was recognised by the pilot on the first flight, although he was initially thought to be just a frequent flyer. The penny soon dropped about his online identity.

A recent New York Times article of a flight to Blenheim also heaped praise onto the airline, gaining it more international attention.

“The wind whistled past the cabin, and I could see into the cockpit, over the shoulder of the solo pilot and out the windscreen,” wrote Natasha Frost.

Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford had no idea it had featured on a prominent Youtube account until a staff member alerted him.

“As we came into land through the vineyards that the region is known for, the grapes were almost visible on the vine. It wasn’t hard to imagine myself as some early aviatrix, and I struggled to keep a grin off my face.”

Crawford said every little bit of good publicity helps.

The Kiwi plane goes from abandoned wreck to centre stage in Kenya.

“Any airline or any business will tell you that word of mouth is your best form of advertising. You can take all the radio ads, all the print ads, word of mouth is by far the best.”

Although Crawford acknowledged it can go the other way too that if someone has a bad flight “they are going to tell 50 people”.

While Philips paid for his flight and didn’t request any special treatment, Crawford said that hasn’t always been the case for influencers, with some going as far as to threaten the airline.

“’If you don’t give us free flights, then we’ll leave a bad review.’ It used to happen before Covid. There were people who used to travel the world like that, basically blackmail airlines or bus services or trains. In the end I just said ‘go away’.

“A lot of people post stuff and you have no control over what they post but what we are doing is really standing by our service and that’s what makes Sounds Air different.”