Golden Bay Air Limited is a small airline based at

Tākaka Aerodrome The Tākaka Aerodrome serves the town of Tākaka, in the South Island of New Zealand. Description Tākaka Aerodrome is northwest of the town. State Highway 60 runs just south of Runway 36. It was established in 1940 and is owned by the Tasman D ...

Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 runs through Takaka and follows the river valley b ...

, New Zealand. The airline currently operates three

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft c ...

from Tākaka to

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

Karamea Karamea is a town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost settlement of any real size on the West Coast, and is located northeast by road from Westport. Apart from a narrow coastal strip, the town of Karam ...

, and also from Nelson to Tākaka and Karamea with connecting road shuttle services to the

Abel Tasman National Park Abel Tasman National Park is a New Zealand national park located between Golden Bay and Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere at the north end of the South Island. It is named after Abel Tasman, who in 1642 became the first European explorer to sight New ...

, the

Heaphy Track The Heaphy Track is a popular tramping and mountain biking track in the north west of the South Island of New Zealand. It is located within the Kahurangi National Park and classified as one of New Zealand's ten Great Walks by the Department o ...

in the

Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging to near Golden Bay in the north. Much of what was the ...

and to and from Tākaka township. Other services provided by the airline include charter flights around New Zealand flown on demand and preset scenic routes around the national parks as well as

Farewell Spit Farewell Spit ( mi, Onetahua) is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, South Island of New Zealand. It runs eastwards from Cape Farewell, the island's northernmost point. Farewell Spit is a legally protected Nature Reserve ...

History

Golden Bay Air originated in November 2005 as Zephair Limited, and flights began in 2006 under the name Capital Air. The name of the company was legally changed to Capital Air Bookings Ltd in September of that year, and the airline changed its name to the one currently used in May 2009. Gbasaratoga

The airline was originally based in Wellington, but moved its base of operations to Tākaka at the time of the name change in 2009. In 2010, Golden Bay Air commissioned a

global navigation satellite system A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...

(GNSS)

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...

system at Tākaka Aerodrome. In April 2018, Golden Bay Air ceased passenger operations temporarily as their air operator certificate issued by the

Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA; Māori: ''Te Mana Rererangi Tūmatanui o Aotearoa'') is the government agency tasked with establishing civil aviation safety and security standards in New Zealand. The CAA also monitors adherence ...

had lapsed. The airline chartered flights from other airlines in order to honour bookings. The airline announced on 19 May 2018 that the re-certification procedure had been completed.

Fleet

In late 2022, the airline added a

Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

to its fleet. The following aircraft are operated by the airline:

Destinations

Golden Bay Air operates scheduled services to four airports: *

(from Nelson and Tākaka) *

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

(from Tākaka and Karamea) *

(hub) *

(from Tākaka) In addition to the scheduled flights, on demand flights operate between Karamea and

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding dis ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Tasman District Airlines of New Zealand Airlines established in 2006 New Zealand companies established in 2006 Tākaka