Whakatāne to Auckland Flight Future Unclear After Council Vote

This morning, the Whakatāne District Council reviewed a proposal from local airline Air Chatham's, who are seeking urgent financial support to keep its Whakatāne to Auckland flight route in the air.

The airline was asking the council to consider writing off a previous $350,000 loan, waiving all landing fees for 12 months, issuing a new $3.2 million loan, and entering into a new profit-and-loss sharing arrangement for the route.

Air Chatham's, which has served the Eastern Bay for a decade, was hit hard by the ongoing effects of COVID-19. Since April 2023, the airline reports it has lost over $1 million operating the route.

“Pre-Covid, it actually was our most profitable route,” said Duane Emeny, the airline’s chief commercial officer. “It’s really sad that the pandemic has upset a lot of things, and off the back of that, the air service has really suffered.”

After a two hour discussion, councilors have decided that they will not give the airline an additional $3.2 Million loan to help secure a dedicated aircraft, for their Whakatane to Auckland Route.

They also will not write off the airlines previous loan, like requested. But instead will look into other options.  They also unanimously rejected the proposed profit-and-loss sharing arrangement. However, the council did agree to a temporary six-month waiver of landing fees to provide limited relief.

In addition, the council will issue an expression of interest to explore whether other airlines might be willing to operate the Whakatāne to Auckland route or offer any additional services, such as flights to Wellington.

"From a personal point of view, for Air Chatham's, Craig and our family, it would have been nice to have a clear mandate, that said we are the airline they want" Emeny said. "We will just see what happens in the next few months, and how we can work with council going forward."