Mount Cook Airline
| |||||||
Founded | 1920 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceased operations | 9 December 2019 | ||||||
Parent company | Air New Zealand | ||||||
Headquarters | Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||
Key people | Kelvin Duff (GM of Regional Airlines) | ||||||
Website | www.airnz.co.nz |
Mount Cook Airline was a regional airline based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly part of the Mount Cook Group and latterly a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, it operated scheduled services throughout the country under the Air New Zealand Link brand. In December 2019, the brand name was retired with all services operated under the Air New Zealand banner.
Early history
NZ Aero Transport
NZ Aero Transport Co. was established in 1920 at
- NZ Aero Transport Co fleet
Aircraft | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Avro 504K | 1920 | 1923 | Five aircraft |
Airco DH.9 | 1920 | 1923 | Three aircraft |
Queenstown – Mount Cook Airways
In 1935, Wigley formed Queenstown - Mount Cook Airway in conjunction with his son
- Queenstown - Mount Cook Airways fleet
Aircraft | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
British Aircraft Swallow II | 1936 | 1939 | Two aircraft. One aircraft was impressed into military service with the RNZAF in 1939. |
Waco QDC Biplane | 1937 | 1940 | One aircraft. The Waco QDC was impressed into military service with the RNZAF in 1940. |
Postwar history
Flying resumed in 1952 using an Auster J1-A Autocrat, registration ZK-BDX (since preserved, formerly inside the terminal of Queenstown Airport now at the Mount Cook Hermitage Hotel Edmund Hillary Centre).[2]
In 1954, NZ Aero Transport Company was reformed as Mount Cook Air Services Ltd, specialising in scenic flights, agricultural work and rescue missions. Henry Wigley solved the problem of landing in the Tasman, Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers by attaching retractable skis (designed and made in the company's vehicle workshop) to the Auster, and landed on the snow of Tasman Glacier. This is how the Ski Plane operation started, aimed at taking tourists to skifields and glaciers in ski-equipped light aircraft.
The
The airline opened negotiations with NZ Tourist Air Travel, which operated air charter and air taxi services using amphibious aircraft, about the possibility of a merger. A bid was made and finally accepted on 31 December 1967 with the company becoming part of Mount Cook Airlines on 1 January 1968.[4]
Mount Cook Airline was one of New Zealand's tourism pioneers opening up the tourist trail of
In June 2001, Air New Zealand Group added extra capacity on domestic routes by introducing four
Air New Zealand purchased part of the Mount Cook Group in the 1980s after Henry Wigley's death,[8] increased to 30% on 5 December 1983, then another 47% in October 1985 after gaining approval on 18 July that year; and the remainder on 18 April 1991.[9][10] On 9 December 2019, the airline was merged into the mainline Air New Zealand fleet and ceased to exist.[11] [12][13]
Mount Cook Airline had 378 employees (as at March 2007).[14]
Destinations
Mount Cook Airline served the following routes in New Zealand at its closure:[15]
Auckland to: | Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Tauranga |
Christchurch to: | Wellington |
Wellington to: |
Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Invercargill, Napier, New Plymouth, Queenstown, Tauranga |
Former destinations
Over the years Mount Cook Airline served many destinations throughout New Zealand, including:[16]
.Fleet
Mount Cook Airline currently operated ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircraft from main cities to larger provincial towns and also on some main trunk routes, complementing fellow subsidiary Air Nelson's smaller capacity Q-300 airliners.
The original ATR 72-200 fleet was swapped for the updated
Air New Zealand announced on 5 November 2015 that an order for an additional 15 ATR 72-600 aircraft, worth NZ$568 million, had been placed making Mount Cook Airlines the third-largest ATR fleet operator in the world with 29 ATR72-600 aircraft. Deliveries of the additional 15 -600 aircraft, started in late 2016 with the last aircraft delivered to Mount Cook Airline in 2019. Subsequent aircraft will now be delivered to parent company Air New Zealand. The new aircraft replaced the existing 11 ATR 72-500 aircraft. The additional ATR 72-600, are used on domestic regional services, supplementing existing ATR 72-500, -600 and Q300 aircraft.
The Mount Cook Airline fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of August 2019):[18]
Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers (Economy) |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
ATR 72-500
|
7 | 0 | 68 | Being replaced by ATR 72-600s |
ATR 72-600
|
23 | 6 | 68 | Replacing ATR 72-500. |
Total | 30 | 6 |
Former fleet
From 6 November 1961, Mount Cook Airline operated three Douglas DC-3 aircraft operating until their final withdrawal on 16 May 1978.[19][20] These aircraft were used to open up routes between Christchurch and Mount Cook, Cromwell and Te Anau/Manapouri. Passengers bound for Queenstown were initially bussed from Cromwell until DC-3 certification was obtained for Queenstown airport (although Cromwell was still used on demand, and as backup when Queenstown airport was unavailable due to weather). DC-3 aircraft were also used at various dates for services from Christchurch to Timaru and Oamaru, Queenstown to Alexandra and Dunedin and an extension from Te Anau to Invercargill.[19]
A fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS-748s was operated from 1968 to 1996 operating into Mount Cook Airline's many tourist airports. The type operated scheduled services to the Chatham Islands from 1990 to 1992 after Safe Air withdrew flying operations. From 1992 to 1994, Air New Zealand chartered a 748 to operate the late evening off peak Invercargill - Christchurch route. The last commercial flight was on 9 February 1996, from Wellington to Christchurch. The HS 748 fleet was replaced by 7 ATR 72-200s from 1995 after an evaluation process that included the Fokker F50, BAE ATP, and Saab 2000.[10]
On 2 December 1969, Mount Cook Airline introduced a
Eight ex-
Aircraft previously operated include:
Aircraft | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
ATR 72-200 | 1995 | 2006 | |
Auster J/1B Aiglet | 1951 | Two aircraft | |
Auster J/5P Autocar | 1956 | Two aircraft | |
British Aerospace 146-300 | 2001 | 2002 | Eight aircraft |
Bell 206B Jetranger | 1980 | 1985 | One helicopter |
Britten-Norman Islander |
1970 | Six aircraft | |
Cessna 180 |
Four aircraft | ||
Cessna 185 Skywagon | Now operated by Mount Cook Ski Planes. | ||
Cessna U206 Stationair | Three aircraft | ||
de Havilland DH.98B Dominie | Three aircraft | ||
de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Ripide | One aircraft | ||
de Havilland Tiger Moth | Two aircraft | ||
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | 1969 | 1998 | Three aircraft |
Douglas DC-3 Dakota | 1961 | 1978 | Four aircraft |
Eurocopter AS.350B Squirrel 1 | 1997 | 1998 | One helicopter |
Fletcher FU.24 |
Six aircraft | ||
Fokker F27-100 Friendship | 1991 | One leased aircraft | |
Fokker F27-200 Friendship | 1981 | Three aircraft leased from the Department of Civil Aviation. | |
GAF N22C Nomad | 1993 | 1998 | One aircraft |
GAF N24A Nomad | 1993 | 1998 | One aircraft |
Grumman G-21A Goose |
1972 | 1975 | One aircraft |
Grumman G-44A Widgeon |
1975 | Six aircraft | |
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 | 1968 | 1996 | Eight aircraft |
Kawasaki BK 117 Helicopter[22] | 1996 | 1998 | Three helicopters |
Miles M-11A Whitney Stright | One aircraft | ||
Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter | 1982 | Four aircraft. Now operated by Mount Cook Ski Planes. | |
Piper PA-18A Super Cub | 1956 | Two aircraft | |
Piper PA-22 Tri Pacer | 1956 | One aircraft | |
Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain | 1993 | 1997 | Three aircraft |
Change in heavy maintenance
In April 2010, parent airline
Logo
The airline's symbol was the
Surviving aircraft
Most of Mount Cook Airline's ATR 72's are still in operation, either with Air New Zealand or sold off to other operators. Below is a list of other known aircraft that flew in Mount Cook colours.
Type | Registration | Location/Operator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Auster J1-A Autocrat | ZK-BDX | Located at Mount Cook Hermitage Hotel Edmund Hillary Centre |
|
De Havilland DH.89B Dominie |
ZK-AKY | Located at Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre, Mandeville | Painted in Mount Cook Airlines blue, but never wore the Mount Cook Lilly[25] |
Douglas DC-3 Skyliner | ZK-BKD | Located at Smash Palace Bar, Gisborne | Ex Australian National Airways and NAC |
Douglas DC-3 Viewmaster | ZK-CAW | Located at McDonald's, Taupō | Ex Australian National Airways |
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 | ZK-CWJ | Located in Dhaka, Bangladesh | Stored, last used as freight aircraft |
See also
References
- ^ Wigley - One Family on the Road to Tourism on ancestry.com website, viewed 2013-10-31
- ^ Photo of ZK-BDX
- ^ "3rd Level New Zealand: 25 years of Mount Cook Airlines Flights to Alexandra". 25 August 2013.
- ^ "NZ Tourist Air Travel". Airline History. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ "3rd Level New Zealand: Mount Cook Airlines - Operating to Oamaru for NAC". 9 June 2013.
- ^ Early Historic Fleet Details
- ^ Historic Fleet Details
- ^ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nzlscant/wigley.htm Rob Kerr
- ^ Mount Cook became a subsidiary
- ^ a b c Air NZ History Archived 31 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Anthony, John (31 March 2019). "Air New Zealand considering merging Air Nelson and Mount Cook with jet business". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ Lowe, Steve (9 December 2019). "Farewell Mount Cook". 3rd level NZ. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ New Zealand's Alpine Airline Airliner World January 2020 pages 70-75
- ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 10 April 2007. p. 52.
- ^ Air New Zealand - Timetables
- ^ a b "25 years of Mount Cook Airlines Flights to Alexandra". 3rd Level New Zealand. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ http://pacificwingsmagazine.com/2011/11/25/air-new-zealand-orders-more-atr-aircraft/
- ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 22.
- ^ a b "Mount Cook Airlines - Part 1 - The 1960s, the birth of an airline". 3rd Level New Zealand. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ a b "Mount Cook Airlines - Part 2 - The 1970s, New Zealand's tourist airline". 3rd Level New Zealand. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ "The Last Days of the Lily at Milford Sound - Mount Cook Airlines". 3rd Level New Zealand. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ Clark, Peter (November 1996). NZ Wings: 26–27.
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(help) - ^ "Narrowbody Jet Maintenance Growth Expected for Air New Zealand Technical Operations in Christchurch". Air New Zealand. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
- ^ "Mount Cook Airlines ATR200's". ZK-MCX ATR.72-212 ANZ Link-Mount Cook CHC 09JAN99. 8 January 1999. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
- ^ "de Havilland 89 Dragon Rapide/Dominie "Tui"". Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre. Retrieved 8 March 2020.