As poor conditions forced the cancellation of some flights from Dunedin and Queenstown airports yesterday morning, Oamaru put on stunning blue skies for the first commercial flight from its airport to Christchurch since 2009.
Strong growth in the North Otago region has encouraged small Dunedin operator Mainland Air to add Oamaru Airport to its schedule.
Its regular service to Christchurch was launched yesterday.
The first flight, leaving Oamaru at 7.30am, was not full, as three passengers took the trip on the nine-seater Piper Chieftain plane, but Mainland Air chief executive Phil Kean is optimistic for the future.
He hoped once people became more aware of the new service, ticket sales would increase.
Di Marshall, of Oamaru, was the first person to book a seat for the 40-minute flight.
She was looking forward to spending three days in Christchurch, preferring to save time flying, rather than driving, to her destination.
''I enjoyed [the flight], I always do,'' she said.
''It's much nicer than being squashed on a shuttle for three hours.''
Mainland Air purchased a nine-seater Chieftain plane specifically for Oamaru, employing former North Otago Aero Club instructor Sven Thelning as pilot.
The idea of an Oamaru-Christchurch route was discussed about two years ago as a way to meet the demands and expectations of the growing Waitaki district.
''Oamaru is growing, it's really going ahead,'' Mr Kean said.
''We were getting quite a few inquiries [about flights from Oamaru], so we thought, well, it's a great facility, sitting here doing nothing.''
Eagle Air, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, serviced the route until 2009.
Mr Kean said the service had been successful after launching on August 7, 2006, but change of schedule on May 18, 2009, ultimately resulted in its failing, is it did not fit the business community's needs. On October 13, 2009, Eagle Air announced service would end from January 1, 2010.
Air New Zealand was averaging 12 passengers per flight, and if Mainland Air could average at least six, it would ''be away laughing'', Mr Kean said.
The airline will operate morning and evening Oamaru to Christchurch return flights three days a week, as well as one return trip each Sunday.
As well as having a fast and efficient air link with the rest of New Zealand, passengers can marvel at the braided Waitaki and Rakaia Rivers and snow-capped mountain ranges, all the while watching vehicles crawling along State Highway 1 below.
Mr Kean said it was much nicer to travel the route thousands of feet in the air rather than drive for three hours in the car, use a tank of petrol and pay for parking in Christchurch.
Therefore, tickets, priced at $200 (excluding GST) each way were reasonable, compared with driving, he said.
Most of the passengers were expected to come from the business community and, for frequent fliers, a 10-trip concession card for $1652.17 would be an attractive option.
Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said the district council was ''certainly hopeful'' the service worked well, opening up new opportunities for access to the district and for business people to easily travel while remaining based in Oamaru.
''While [flights] are not every day, the schedule is pretty good and better that what we had before,'' he said.
''[The council] wish them all the very best.''
