Barrier Air's ‘risky’ move against Air NZ is paying off while Sounds Air overhauls its schedule

Monday, 14 October 2024

Stuff Travel journalist Alan Granville profiles a regional New Zealand airline which has been flying high for nearly 40 years, Sounds Air.

Two of the country’s smaller airlines have reasons to smile after both have seen upticks in passenger numbers, even if economic headwinds still persist.

Barrier Air said the recently introduced Auckland to Kerikeri route has been a success, while Sounds Air revealed a huge schedule change is already reaping benefits.

Barrier CEO Grant Bacon said he has been “quite blown away” by the number of passengers since the route was introduced in August.

“We are seeing regular commuters frequenting our service and with no cancellations since our inaugural flight, people are seeing a lot of value in the certainty of our schedule,” he told Stuff Travel.

Barrier Air will be adding an additional Tuesday and Thursday service between Auckland and Kerikeri.

A look at one of the smaller airlines in New Zealand with big ambitions.

“Around a third of all flights are sold out mainly on the peak days and times.”

The airline faces competition from Air New Zealand on the route, and Bacon admitted it was “risky to go up against a much larger, legacy carrier”, but added, “at this stage we couldn’t be happier with the results we are seeing”.

The airline is also recruiting an additional round of pilots to increase its crew and to make sure the schedule is reliable. More flights are also being added to Auckland-Kerikeri ahead of the busy summer and Christmas period.

“We are about to carry our 4000th passenger on Kerikeri … which proves the route is working at this early stage.”

The airline is also readying a new Cessna Grand Caravan to join its current fleet of five.

Also seeing some early shoots of success is Sounds Air.

Sounds Air CEO Andrew Crawford said the airline changed its flight schedule “from the ground up”.

CEO Andrew Crawford said the Blenheim-based operator has added 80 new weekly flights and had overhauled its schedule “from the ground up”: “We listened to the market, more flights on Mondays and Fridays, less on Tuesdays.”

It took over a year of planning and Crawford admitted, “we didn’t quite realise how big it was going to be”, juggling the likes of new flight numbers, rosters and gate changes.

But despite only starting two weeks ago, the new schedule seems to be working.

Last Friday, it flew more than 500 people, a huge number for the small airline, “surprising” even Crawford: “Those are like Christmas Eve numbers.”

But despite the early promise, he is under no illusions about the difficulties of operating an airline in these tough economic times. “Plenty of people are flying,” but the airline is being buffeted by high costs including fuel, airport fees and supply chain issues.