Kiwi Regional Airlines (KRA) has added another flight to its Dunedin to Nelson service, and a new North Island destination to its schedule.
The airline yesterday announced Tauranga as that destination, meaning a twice-weekly connection between Dunedin and the Bay of Plenty.
Chief executive Ewan Wilson said the airline was still working to build its routes, but the performance of the Dunedin to Nelson service was ''very encouraging'' for its sustainability.
KRA launched in late October with a Dunedin to Queenstown route, but that was cut back immediately to once a week, and shortly after ditched.
Yesterday, Mr Wilson said four flights a week to Nelson from Dunedin would become five.
From February 15, KRA would fly on a Tuesday and Saturday morning in a ''same plane'' service to Tauranga, via Nelson.
The aircraft would be on the ground for 25 minutes in Nelson, making a total flight time of just over three hours.
Tickets from Dunedin to Tauranga would start from $169 one-way.
There would be a ''same-plane'' return flight via Nelson on a Tuesday.
Mr Wilson said the airline's first month of operation had ''taught us a lot about regional New Zealand's travel preferences''.
''There is a high proportion of our passengers visiting family and friends, and with the Bay of Plenty's population around the quarter-million mark, there are a lot of family connections between there and the South.''
KRA's analysis showed ''huge demand'' out of Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty for Nelson and Blenheim.
There was also strong analysis that showed there would be traffic from Tauranga to Dunedin, ''no different from what has already been seen from Hamilton to Dunedin''.
The extra flight from Dunedin to Nelson was part of the airline's positioning as a hybrid, attracting both leisure and corporate travel.
Corporates required frequency, and five flights a week to Nelson provided that.
Mr Wilson said the Dunedin to Nelson flight was attracting the ''visiting friends and relatives'' market.
As well, ''I do believe that there are corporates with business in Nelson and Blenheim who appreciate a direct service''.
Dunedin to Hamilton was also popular, Mr Wilson said, because the route was the quickest service between the centres.
On the sustainability of the Dunedin to Nelson route, Mr Wilson said he would ''describe it as very encouraging''.
''It's a good route but it continues to need development.
''We're getting encouraging load factors, and we need to quietly, incrementally, increase the yield.
''There are some encouraging indications that this could be a viable route, but it can't be with just one market sector.''
A mix of leisure, tourist and corporate passengers made a route sustainable and profitable.
''If routes don't work, we cut them.
''Routes that work we keep, and we try to grow.''
