Kiwi Air to fly from Karioi

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 37, 5 March 1985, Page 1

Kiwi Air to fly from Karioi

Raetihi and Ohakune will have a regular scheduled air service to both Auckland and Wellington from later this month.

Kiwi Air will launch the new service, which will fly to Auckland and Wellington every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, on Tuesday 19th March. The five and seven-seater twin-engined Piper aircraft will fly from Karioi Airfield, near the Winstone Samsung pulp mill. Fares are structured along Air New Zealand guidelines, with a ticket from Karioi to Auckland costing $98 and from Karioi to Wellington $75. Flights north will stop over in Tokoroa. Kiwi Air was launched by Gold Coast Air, a flight training and charter company, based in Paraparaumu. Steve Ewan, spokesperson for Gold Coast Air, said that the new venture had taken six months to plan. Flowever, for the first three months of operations, the company will carefully watc'h booking levels and will then re-assess route structure. Although the trade from the Ohakune / Raetihi area is unlikely to be as great as from the bigger centres, Mr

Ewan said demand would have to be "very poor" before the stop at Karioi was discontinued, as the flights would pass over this area on their way to Wellington anyway. To provide a new service for ski enthusiasts, the company plans to put on an extra flight, seven days per week, during the season. Karioi was chosen by Kiwi Air as a stop-over, as it is a licenced air-strip and has an all-weather capability, which will be important during the winter months. Apart from ski enthusiasts in the winter, Mr Ewan believes businessmen visiting the Winstone Samsung pulp mill, shoppers wishing to visit Auckland or Wellington and holiday-makers needing to connect up with international flights will make use of the new service. Check-in for flights will be carried out at Karioi Airfield. For people without transportation, Kiwi Air plans to come to an arrangement with a local taxi firm, enabling passengers to be driven to the airfield.