It seems as soon as Dunedin makes progress with its air services - and domestically they have improved again in recent years, particularly to Auckland - they deteriorate once more.
In the latest development, Air New Zealand is reducing flights between the cities from three a day to two. Crucially, the change means the end of the direct flight which left Auckland after 7pm and allowed Dunedin business people to conduct business in that city without having to stay overnight.
Dunedin's compact nature, cheaper costs and lifestyle are all strong advantages to doing business. But lacking are quick and easy personal contact with the three biggest New Zealand cities and Australia. Air links make a difference in time, convenience and cost.
For that reason, Dunedin people and the business community feel strongly and are sensitive about anything that impairs the service. They feel that the near monopoly Air New Zealand enjoys means it believes it can put Dunedin down the list of priorities when compared with Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Queenstown; and that it can minimise Dunedin services and put the best services and prices where it has head-to-head competition.
The lack of announcements as such about the latest changes have added to what is felt as a snub. Instead, business people booking ahead found the 7.05pm direct flight from Auckland was no more. At the same time, the late flight from Dunedin to Auckland (8.50pm), which often provided cheaper fares and could position a business person in Auckland for an early start the next day, has also disappeared.
Air New Zealand, using its new Airbus A 329 planes with 171 seats compared with the Boeing 737-300 and its 133 seats, somewhat ingenuously says capacity has only reduced 10%. For a start, this is in a market that has been growing. But pivotal for Dunedin, whatever the capacity, is the opportunity to do business efficiently and effectively in Auckland.
The second direct flight back to Dunedin will soon depart at 3.30pm, forcing passengers to look to indirect services. The last at present is via Wellington and leaves at 5.30pm. By the time someone has negotiated peak-hour Auckland traffic and left a sufficient safety buffer before departure time, he or she would have to be leaving the central city as early as 3.30pm to 4pm.
While a slight improvement in the new schedules pushes the last flight back to 5.55pm, Dunedin passengers will still be at the mercy of clogged motorways as well as having to compete for seats with Wellington-bound travellers. This route takes two hours and 50 minutes compared with one hour 55 minutes for the direct flight.
Loading on present flights appear to have been reasonable. Perhaps it might slip a little under the new arrangements. More frequent services and better prices have stimulated airline growth and numbers to and from Auckland. Cutting convenient flights could, in fact, trim use as business people try harder to avoid having to do business in person in Auckland.
Flights from Sydney over the Christmas period are another example of how Dunedin seems to be last plane off the tarmac. Each year, a decision on whether they will operate is left until late, hardly a sign of confidence and hardly a good way to encourage patronage.
Jetstar provides welcome price competition and extra capacity with its link to New Zealand's largest city.
It presence across New Zealand, however, is limited and schedules lack the consistency required by most business travellers. Perhaps, too, Air New Zealand - by ensuring one of its remaining two direct flights is in the afternoon - is endeavouring to prevent Jetstar having that time period to itself. With a captive business market, perhaps it is working harder in this instance on the ''leisure'' side of airline travel.
The Otago Chamber of Commerce has received complaints about the new timetable. Business people and other travellers should make their dismay and frustration known directly and unequivocally to Air New Zealand, too. The company should also know that its decisions affect goodwill and could even influence Dunedin purchasing decisions on international flights - and wherever there is genuine competition.
