Air Chathams and Air New Zealand Join Forces
- Kieran Watkins
- Oct 15
- 2 min read
Air Chathams has signed an interlining deal with Air New Zealand which will allow travelers to book flights for the Whakatāne service through the Air New Zealand website.
The agreement was signed at Whakatāne Airport yesterday. An Air New Zealand Q300 and an Air Chathams Saab 340 were both parked on the airport tarmac, a symbol of the new partnership.
Air Chathams will still operate the Whakatāne service, but it will mean that from December a single Air New Zealand ticket can be purchased to travel to make a multi-leg domestic journey to or from Whakatāne.
An airline generally won't take responsibility for missed connections involving other airlines, and so the arrangement gives greater security for those wanting to fly from Whakatāne without the concern of forfeiting their next domestic connection should delays occur.
The deal only extends to domestic travel, but Air Chathams chief executive Duane Emeny says they'll be pushing for it to expand to international flights.
"I do agree that that's really, really important and that's what the customers will want to see too."
"Let's just get this right and then we can see what unfolds."
Emeny thanked the Whakatāne District council for continuing to stay the course and thanked them for the significant investment made into the airport and runway.
Emeny also made mention of "their favourite and rather iconic Whakatāne terminal" which drew chuckles from the crowd.
Air New Zealand chief transformation and alliances officer Mike Williams said regions like Whakatāne are the beating heart of Aotearoa, and regional air services are the lifeblood between those different regions.
"They bring goods to market, they bring tourists to town, they bring patients to care, and they also connect family and bring family home."
"These sorts of interline relationships like we're announcing today are a means of deepening that connection between airlines, between communities."
"We prosper together."
He said Whakatāne already features on the Air New Zealand booking system, with flights hopefully becoming available from early December.
Mayor-elect Nándor Tánczos said he didn't think the importance of the day could be overstated.
"This places us on the national air network map, it's a step change in our visibility.
"The convenience of book-through tickets across national and soon, hopefully, international networks will strengthen tourism, business travel and freight logistics for our region's producers.
"Hopefully, we'll see these kind of agreements roll out across the country."
