New Zealand regional airline Stewart Island Flights (WK) recently has been voted the ‘most loved’ airline in New Zealand by Australian foreign exchange company S Money. The small but vital airline connects Stewart Island, to the mainland, at Invercargill Airport (IVC). The number of reactions and hashtags on social media decided the winners. Northern Ontario’s Bearskin Airlines won the global spot. However, Stewart Island Flights has settled for New Zealand’s ‘most loved.’
The regional airline operates multiple daily flights across the Foveaux Strait, which separates the South Island of New Zealand from Stewart Island, a 16-mile (26km) stretch of water renowned for its rough seas. Oban, the main settlement on Stewart Island, is home to just over 400 people, with the island being a popular tourist hotspot for nature, hiking, hunting, and fishing.
Connecting Invercargill (IVC) to Ryans Creek Aerodrome (SZS)
Stewart Island flights operate a modest fleet of four aircraft: two Britten Norman Islanders, one Piper Cherokee Six, and a Cessna 185. Britten Norman Islanders transports most passengers between the mainland and Stewart Island’s aerodrome at Ryans Creek.
When traveling with the airline, its family feel starts at check-in, where the pilots operate the reservation center, check-in, boarding, and then eventually fly the aircraft. Its Britten Normans, which can seat ten, including the pilot, shuttle across Foveaux Strait to Ryan’s Creek, where passengers are met by its ground crew, transporting passengers by van to its office in Oban, which also operates as the island’s post office.
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16 flights daily
The small but mighty airline operates 16 return services daily across Foveaux Strait. The airline has a staff of 20 and has seen the business go from strength to strength post-pandemic. Stewart Island Flight’s fleet of four will soon increase to five as another Britten Norman is poised to join the airline. As reported by Stuff Travel, CEO and Chief Pilot Leon Bex commented on the airline’s growth:
“We’re doing sort of record numbers at the moment, even just after the first lockdown (April 2020), we’ve been super busy.”
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Kiwi’s exploring locally.
With New Zealand’s borders firmly shut in the peak of the pandemic, Kiwis looked to local destinations and to tick off bucket list destinations, which for New Zealanders, Stewart Island always remains high. Bax further noted:
“Kiwis were travelling within New Zealand, but they’re going to bucket list destinations, and places like the normal tourist routes of Queenstown and Te Anau were really struggling, and for some reason, everyone wanted to go to Stewart Island, and we were flat out.”
No expansion plans
Apart from a fifth aircraft joining the fleet, Bax noted that the airline has ‘no plans whatsoever’ for expansion. Commenting that the airline is content with what it is doing and doing it right. The airline, which maintains the Invercargill – Stewart Island route, does offer charter flights to Queenstown and Milford Sound, which are ‘rare.’ The airline also offers charter and hiking connections across Stewart Island, including beach landings to multiple locations, providing transport for avid hikers and hunters.
Sources: Stuff.co.nz
