Air Chathams (3C, Chatham Island) has acquired fellow New Zealand domestic operator, Kiwi Regional Airlines (Hamilton, NZ), for an undisclosed sum.
Kiwi Regional said in a statement that along with an unspecified number of staff, Air Chathams will absorb its only aircraft, Saab 340A ZK-KRA (cn 65), into its fleet with effect from August 1 of this year.
Until then, Kiwi Regional Airlines will continue to run its scheduled services until July 30 following which it will operate Whanganui-Auckland International flights for Air Chathams using Kiwi Regional’s Air Operating Certificate (AOC). This arrangement will continue until Air Chathams can move the Saab (Sweden) onto its own AOC.
Commenting on the acquisition, Kiwi Regional Airlines CEO Ewan Wilson told The Otago Daily Times newspaper that Kiwi Regional needed at least two aircraft to sustain operations as well as to break even.
Management presented shareholders with various options to acquire a second aircraft, including crowdfunding, at a meeting held last week. The alternative was to sell the carrier to an already established airline.
On review, the shareholders chose the latter resulting in Kiwi Regional's sale.
“From my point of view, I am pleased our aircraft and flight staff will become part of the Air Chathams operation," he said. "We have had a formal maintenance agreement with Air Chathams since the start, and this will be an extension of that relationship.”
Launched in October of last year, Kiwi Regional operates regular flights across New Zealand connecting Nelson, NZ, Dunedin, Hamilton, NZ, and Tauranga. For its part, Air Chathams operates CV-580s, Metroliner IIIs, DC-3s, BN-2s, and Cessna (single piston) 206s on charters as well as scheduled flights from its Chatham Island base to Auckland International, Christchurch, and Wellington as well as from Auckland to Whakatane and Whanganui.
