Cessna 208 (Sounds Air) Picton-Koromiko airfield

Sounds Air Caravan at Christchurch Airport

Sounds Air PC-12 ZK-PLV at WLG (32929247345)

Sounds Air is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

airline based at Picton. The airline was founded in 1986 by Cliff and Diane Marchant to provide low cost flights to the Marlborough Sounds. The airline has a maintenance facility at

Omaka aerodrome Omaka Aerodrome is a private airfield owned by the Marlborough Aero Club and used solely by private and vintage aircraft. It is located two nautical miles to the Southwest of Blenheim, New Zealand, at the northern end of the South Island. ...

with its Sounds Aero Maintenance division based there.

History

From a single Cessna Caravan operating one route across the

Cook Strait Cook Strait ( mi, Te Moana-o-Raukawa) separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, A ...

, Sounds Air has grown in 30 years; the airline carried 78,000 passengers in 2015, compared to 14,000 passengers in 2003. In 2008 the airline set up its own maintenance division as the airline could not find a company suitable to maintain its fleet. In 2017, Sounds Air signalled that they were looking at buying twin engine planes for the first time: up to three 19-seater

Beech 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

aircraft to support extra demand for the Blenheim to Christchurch route.

Services

Sounds Air operates scheduled flights between

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 ...

and Picton, Nelson,

Blenheim Blenheim ( ) is the English name of Blindheim, a village in Bavaria, Germany, which was the site of the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Almost all places and other things called Blenheim are named directly or indirectly in honour of the battle. Places ...

, Taupo and Westport. Scheduled flights are also available between Blenheim 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 Rive ...

, and Paraparaumu. Nelson also has flights to Paraparaumu. Sounds Air formerly served Kaikoura, Napier and

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

from Wellington, Napier from Blenheim and

Kapiti Coast The Kapiti Coast District is a local government district of the Wellington Region in the lower North Island of New Zealand, 50 km north of Wellington City. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent island offshore. The pop ...

from Picton. A service to

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a ...

was being considered from Wellington, however no such service eventuated, because the town wanted the link to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

reinstated instead. In addition to scheduled flights Sounds Air offers scenic flights over the Marlborough Sounds and Abel Tasman National Park. The airline started temporary services to Kaikoura from Christchurch and Blenheim on 21 November 2016 following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. The Kaikoura to Christchurch flights ceased from 27 January 2017 followed by the Blenheim flights on 29 December 2017. From this date onwards Kaikoura will become a charter route only. Sounds Air commenced Christchurch to Wānaka another former Air New Zealand route on 2 November 2020.

Destinations

Sounds Air operates scheduled services to the following destinations within New Zealand:

Fleet

As of July 2020 the Sounds air fleet consists of ten aircraft.

Future

On 28 September 2020, the airline signed a letter of intent to Swedish company

Heart Aerospace Heart Aerospace is a Swedish startup company developing electric aircraft. The company is developing the ES-30, a hybrid-electric, 30-passenger regional airliner. The ES-30 is planned to have a 430 nautical mile (800 kilometer) range. Heart plans ...

to purchase their ES-19 electric aircraft once it comes available, scheduled for 2026. The airline hopes the ES-19 will be able to make them the first regional airline to offer Zero-emissions flights. In 2022 this was upgraded to the ES-30.

Accidents and incidents

*On 19 March 1989 Britten Norman BN2A Islander, ZK-SFE, while attempting to land at Tiraora Lodge struck a telephone wire and descended into the sea. The pilot and five passengers were rescued but suffered varying degrees of injury. *On 29 January 1996 Cessna 208 Caravan, ZK-SFA, crashed into the eastern slopes of Mount Robertson on approach to Picton Aerodrome at Koromiko after a flight from

. All five passengers were killed, but the pilot survived.

References

External links

Sounds Air official websiteSounds Air aircraft
{{Airlines of New Zealand Airlines of New Zealand Picton, New Zealand Airlines established in 1986 New Zealand companies established in 1986