{"id":3725,"date":"2023-03-11T12:15:03","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T12:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2023-03-11T12:15:03","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T12:15:03","slug":"steward-island-flights-the-small-but-loved-airline-connecting-stewart-island-to-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=3725","title":{"rendered":"Steward Island Flights: The Small But Loved Airline Connecting Stewart Island To The World"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand\u00a0regional airline\u00a0Stewart Island Flights (WK) recently has been voted the ‘most loved’ airline in New Zealand by Australian foreign exchange company\u00a0S Money<\/strong>. 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.’<\/p>\n

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\"Flight_to_Stewart_Island_(8604764463)\"<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Photo:\u00a0Ron Knight via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Connecting Invercargill (IVC) to Ryans Creek Aerodrome (SZS)<\/h2>\n

Stewart Island flights operate a modest fleet of four aircraft: two\u00a0Britten Norman Islanders<\/a>, one Piper Cherokee Six, and a\u00a0Cessna<\/a>\u00a0185. Britten Norman Islanders transports most passengers between the mainland and Stewart Island’s aerodrome at Ryans Creek.<\/p>\n

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\"Oban<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Photo: Aaron Bailey \/ Simple Flying<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox:\u00a0Sign up for our newsletters today.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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16 flights daily<\/h2>\n

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:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re doing sort of record numbers at the moment, even just after the first lockdown (April 2020), we’ve been super busy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\"Ryans<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Photo: Stewart Island Flights<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We’d love to see you on\u00a0Instagram – follow us here<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Kiwi’s exploring locally.<\/h2>\n

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:<\/p>\n

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“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.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\"Britten<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Photo: Aaron Bailey \/ Simple Flying<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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No expansion plans<\/h2>\n

Apart from a fifth aircraft joining the fleet, Bax noted that the airline has\u00a0‘no plans whatsoever’<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0for 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\u00a0beach landings<\/a>\u00a0to multiple locations, providing transport for avid hikers and hunters.<\/p>\n

Sources:\u00a0Stuff.co.nz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Zealand\u00a0regional airline\u00a0Stewart Island Flights (WK) recently has been voted the ‘most loved’ airline in New Zealand by Australian foreign exchange company\u00a0S 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 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[102,90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\nSteward Island Flights: The Small But Loved Airline Connecting Stewart Island To The World - aviation news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=3725\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Steward Island Flights: The Small But Loved Airline Connecting Stewart Island To The World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Zealand\u00a0regional airline\u00a0Stewart Island Flights (WK) recently has been voted the ‘most loved’ airline in New Zealand by Australian foreign exchange company\u00a0S Money. 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