Ansett New Zealand BAe 146-300 Zuppicich

Ansett New Zealand was an airline serving the New Zealand domestic market between 1987 and 2001. It was a subsidiary of Ansett Transport Industries. In order to comply with regulatory requirements relating to the acquisition of Ansett Transit Industries by

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

, Ansett New Zealand was sold to

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

and later to Tasman Pacific Airlines of New Zealand in 2000, operating as a

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

franchise under the Qantas New Zealand brand. It went into receivership and subsequently liquidation in 2001.

History

Ansett New Zealand was the result of Ansett Transport Industries' desire to expand into the New Zealand market, enabled by the relaxation of regulation in the aviation sector by the

fourth Labour government The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term since the First Labour Government of 1935 to 1949. The policy agenda o ...

.''Don't knock Air New Zealand''
– the Press, 5 September 2007 Ansett Transport Industries formed a partnership with two New Zealand companies,

Brierley Investments GL Limited is an investment company listed on the Singapore Exchange. Founded as Brierley Investments in 1961, it was formerly listed on the Australian, London and New Zealand exchanges. History Brierley Investments was founded by Ron Brierley i ...

and

Newmans Coach Lines Newmans Coach Lines was an Australian coach charter company with operations in Sydney and Cairns. History In 1987, the Sydney coach operations of Chester Coaches were purchased by New Zealand-based Newmans Coach Lines. Newmans also purchased ...

, the latter being a tourism company which owned the unprofitable

Newmans Air Newmans Airways Limited, trading as ''Newmans Air'', was a wholly owned airline subsidiary of Newmans Group (most well known as the owners of Newmans Coach Lines) and served the New Zealand domestic market between 1985 and 1987. It was set up i ...

. Newmans Air formed the basis for a new expanded airline, the company being Bilmans Management Ltd, operating as Ansett New Zealand. Half its shares (the maximum allowed for a foreign company) were owned by Ansett, with Brierley holding 27.5% and Newmans holding 22.5%. Subsequently, regulations were relaxed still further, and Ansett took full ownership in April 1988. Operations started on 25 July 1987 with three

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

-100 aircraft between

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. The ex Newmans Air

de Havilland Canada Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, ...

s were used on tourist routes between Auckland,

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

, Christchurch, Mount Cook and Queenstown. The old and noisy Boeing 737 aircraft were replaced with new and quieter

British Aerospace 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro Internati ...

s known as "Whisper Jets". Routes were extended to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

. Also the old Dash-7s were replaced with the much more fuel efficient

Bombardier Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

s. By the year 2000 the fleet had risen to eight BAE-146s (one a quick change version to convert to freighter operations) and five Dash-8s. During the early 1990s, Ansett New Zealand created television advertisements emphasising the airline's customer service. One advert featured a businessman (played by

Peter Hambleton Peter Hambleton (born 1960) is a New Zealand stage, film and television actor, and stage director. Hambleton graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1982 with a Diploma in Acting. In 2002 Hambleton was a New Zealand Shakespeare ...

) who accidentally brought his cat Fluffy to the airport; the Ansett check-in attendant subsequently takes Fluffy off the businessman's hands and arranges for the cat to be taken home. The advert was voted the best by public vote in the 1992 ''

Fair Go ''Fair Go'' is a New Zealand consumer affairs television programme hosted by Pippa Wetzell and Hadyn Jones. First aired in 1977, it is New Zealand's second longest-running local programme (after '' Country Calendar''). It is also highest-rate ...

'' Ad Awards. In 1996,

made a bid to purchase half of Ansett Transport Industries, after an

open skies The freedoms of the air are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country's airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country's airspace. They were formulated as a result of disagreements over the extent of aviation liberali ...

agreement for the former to fly within Australia was abruptly withdrawn. Anti-monopoly regulators did not want Air New Zealand to gain control of Ansett's operations in New Zealand, however, and it was therefore required that the two Ansett airlines would be separated. Ansett would be owned by Air New Zealand and (until it was bought out)

, while Ansett New Zealand would be owned by News Corporation exclusively. In June 2000, News Corporation sold Ansett New Zealand to Tasman Pacific Airlines that was owned by a group of investors including RM Williams. Shortly afterwards, the company became a franchise of

, operating under the Qantas New Zealand brand. The following year, however, the airline went into liquidation.New Zealand Aviation News, Vol XXIV No 4, May 2001 Qantas's later involvement in the New Zealand domestic market was unrelated and not through a franchise agreement.

Fleet

* 12

s; including 2 -200, 1 200QC, 6 300, and 3 -300A * 2 Dash 7 (inherited from

) * 9

; including 7 -102 and 2 -311 * 5 Boeing 737-130 * 5

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max ...

(operated by Rex Aviation as Tranzair and later Ansett regional scheduled services, ended by 1999 and replaced by Jetstream) *5 BAe Jetstream 32EP (operated by Rex Aviation and Air National as Ansett regional)

Destinations

Prior to the suspension of domestic passenger services, the airline (as at January 2001) operated services to the following scheduled destinations:

Accidents

* Ansett New Zealand's first accident involved a BAe 146–200 that ran off the end of the runway at

Queenstown Airport Queenstown Airport is located in Frankton, Otago, New Zealand, and serves the resort town of Queenstown. The airport is from the Queenstown CBD. The airport handled 2.25 million passengers as of 2018 making it the fourth busiest airport ...

on 28 April 1990. However the aircraft only suffered minor damage. *

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was a scheduled flight from Auckland to Palmerston North. On 9 June 1995, the de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 aircraft crashed into the Tararua Range on approach to Palmerston North. The flight attendant and th ...

was an Ansett New Zealand scheduled passenger transport flight from

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. On 9 June 1995, the

Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

aircraft flying this route crashed west of the

Tararua Ranges The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand. The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...

and 16 km east of Palmerston North Airport, during an instrument approach in bad weather. The aircraft was carrying 18 passengers and three crew members. All passengers were New Zealand citizens except for a single United States citizen. The flight attendant and three passengers died as a result of the crash.

References

External links