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Mount Cook Airline is an airline based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is wholly owned by Air New Zealand and operates scheduled services throughout the country under the Air New Zealand Link brand. Its main base is Christchurch International Airport[1].
[edit] HistoryThe airline was established and started operations in 1920 as New Zealand Aero Transport Company, at Timaru by Rodolph Lysaght Wigley. Wigley, who in 1906 had driven the first motor car to Mount Cook, used six ex-RAF Airco DH.4s and Avro 504s for sightseeing flights and any other work available. In 1921, Wigley pioneered flights to Mount Cook and from Invercargill to Auckland. The NZ Aero Transport Company had several successful years before winding up its activities due to declining public interest in aviation. In the 1930s, Wigley formed Queenstown - Mount Cook Airway in conjunction with his son, Harry, later to become Sir Henry Wigley. Sir Henry remained the Managing Director of the airline until 1979 and Chairman until his death in 1980. The company operated charter flights around Southern Lakes, Milford Sound and Mount Cook regions, until it was suspended by World War II. Flying resumed in 1952 using an Auster J1-A Autocrat, registration ZK-BDX (now preserved inside the terminal of Queenstown Airport).[2] In 1954, NZ Aero Transport Company was reformed as Mount Cook Air Services Ltd, specialising in scenic flights, agricultural work and rescue missions. Sir Henry solved the problem of landing in Tasman, Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers by attaching retractable skis (designed and made in the company's vehicle workshop) to the Auster, and landed on the snow of Tasman Glacier. This is how the Ski Plane operation started, aimed at taking tourists to skifields and glaciers in ski-equipped light aircraft. Mount Cook Ski Planes now operates a fleet of Cessna 185s and Pilatus Porters, and is the only company to land scenic flights on the Tasman Glacier to this day.[3] The Mount Cook Group operated bus services, trucking, skifields and built an airfield at Mount Cook to bring in the growing number of visitors to the Southern Alps. Scheduled services for Mount Cook Airline began on 6 November 1961 between Christchurch, Mount Cook, Queenstown and Te Anau with a 26-seater Douglas DC-3. Mount Cook Airline was one of New Zealand's tourism pioneers opening up the 'tourist trail' of Rotorua through to Christchurch, Mount Cook and Queenstown. For almost 30 years, it operated a fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS 748s across regional tourist routes in New Zealand. After a long evaluation study, the first of the new ATR 72-200s arrived in October 1995 as the chosen replacement of the HS 748s.[4] In June 2001, Air New Zealand Group added extra capacity on domestic routes by introducing eight BAe 146s to supplement the ATRs. These aircraft were taken from the failed Qantas NZ franchise. A temporary measure, they retired the following year after six extra Boeing 737-300s were added to the mainline fleet.[5] The airline's symbol is the Mount Cook Lily, which prior to the integration with the Air New Zealand link brand was displayed on the tails of its aeroplanes. Air New Zealand purchased part of the Mount Cook Group in the 1980s after Sir Henry's death,[6] increased to 30% on 5 December 1983, then another 47% (increased to 77%) in October 1985 after gaining approval on 18 July that year; and the remainder on 18 April 1991.[7][8] Mount Cook Airline has 378 employees (as at March 2007).[1] [edit] Destinations[edit] FleetAs of February 2009, the Mount Cook Airline fleet consists of the following aircraft:[10]
[edit] Previously operatedThe airline previously operated: A fleet of Hawker Siddeley HS 748s was operated from 1970 to 1996. The last commercial flight was on 9 February 1996, from Wellington to Christchurch. The aging HS 748 fleet was replaced by seven ATR 72-200s after an evaluation process that included the Fokker F50, Bae APT, and Saab 2000.[8] Eight ex-Qantas New Zealand BAe 146s were temporarily operated after Qantas New Zealand's collapse. They boosted the domestic service from June 2001 to 2002 until six extra Boeing 737-300 aircraft were leased into the mainline Air New Zealand fleet. They were placed under Mount Cook's management structure for the duration.[8] Also operated:
[edit] Fleet changesThe original ATR 72-200 fleet was swapped one for one with the updated ATR 72-500 during 2001–2002. Extra aircraft were also added allowing Air New Zealand to retire the last of its Boeing 737-200s. In 2007 Mount Cook Airline had ATR 72 forward replacement studies underway which included being launch customer for the ATR 72-600, while Bombardier Q400 was also reviewed. However, due to the worsening global recession, in October 2008 Mount Cook Airline decided to suspend ATR replacement. Instead it purchased the eight leased aircraft giving them total fleet ownership. [edit] References
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