Kia ora! Where's security?

Route: Auckland - Napier - Auckland
Airline: Air New Zealand Link (operated by Mount Cook Airline)
Date of departure: 10th July to Napier, 12th July back to Auckland
Aircraft: ATR72-500
Flight duration: 49 minutes to Napier, 58 minutes to Auckland
Flight distance: 328 km each way

 Total distance flown so far this trip: 20 499 km

 Air New Zealand has two types of domestic flights. The busiest routes between Auckland and Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin and Queenstown are served by Airbus A320 jets. All other destinations are served by propeller flights on Mount Cook Airline which operates a fleet of ATR72 and Dash aircraft. There are Regional Lounges in many airports dotted around in NZ, and provided you have entered your gold status frequent flyer card on your booking, you can access these lounges no matter what type of ticket you have purchased with Air New Zealand. I was unsure if I had entered my details on booking, but a quick check by e-mail to them got me a quick response that I had. So I started my trip in the regional lounge in Auckland airport's domestic terminal. The lounge had snacks, a self-service alcohol selection and even a barista who made a wicked latte for me!


One anomaly was that there are no security checks either on you or your luggage on regional services. I read a comment once that this is probably due to the fact that the regional services are served by propeller aircraft, and that nobody in their right mind would get on one of these to do anything unsavory as nobody really wants to get on them at all. I prefer to think of it as being typically NZ - relaxed, but they have full control. One interesting thing if you haven't flown on this type of aircraft before (ATR72) is that everyone enters the plane via the back door, and luggage is loaded via the front door.


The silver fern adorns the tail of Air New Zealand's aircraft.


There were a few bumps leaving Auckland, and the captain had warned that the crosswinds were a bit strong, but the bumps were nothing compared to what I have experienced flying in northern Norway, especially during the winter. And in-flight service to boot on a short flight. Service started with mineral water, followed by coffee or tea and a cookie.

Napier airport is a great place to arrive too. No baggage belts - the luggage is collected on a cart and driven into the arrivals area, in a room partitioned from the terminal by glass doors. Ten minutes after landing, I had my baggage, had secured a taxi and was on my way to Napier city centre.

After a couple of days in the art deco city of Napier, it was time to return to Auckland. Again, there is a small regional lounge at the airport, which was very quiet while I was there. There was an earlier flight to Auckland than the one I was booked on, and the lady on the desk in the lounge asked if I would like to get on that flight instead. As my flight was only an hour later anyway, I decided to stay put and stick to my original plans for Auckland that day.


The return flight was on an older ATR72-500, which Air New Zealand is retiring as newer -600 models are delivered. This plane shows the older livery on the tail fin,

This ATR72 with the silver fern livery landed while I was waiting in the lounge.

Goodbye Napier!

30 seconds prior to landing in Auckland.

Spotted at AKL - an Air Chathams HS748. These service the Chatham Islands way out in the Pacific, but also three domestic routes in New Zealand.

Air New Zealand does have competition on domestic services from Jetstar, which also flies airbuses on the same routes Air New Zealand fly theirs, but use Dash aircraft on their other regional routes. I have flown on Jetstar in Australia and Asia previously, but have never tried them in NZ. Air New Zealand has always been reliable when I have flown, and the service has always been very friendly.

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