Hobbiton is situated about 30km from Hamilton City. The closest international airport to it is Auckland. Photo: Donovan Kelly/pexels
Hobbiton is about to enter the jet age as the aircraft return to NZ’s Hamilton Airport after 25 years and the Shire ‘edges’ a little closer to Australia.
The airport says Air New Zealand will operate a 171-seat Airbus A320 five days a week on its Hamilton–Christchurch route as of September 18.
The airline says that its smaller ATR turboprop aircraft will operate alongside its jet service, and will add about 25,000 seats on the route; two of the smaller aircraft to be displaced by the Airbus aircraft will be used elsewhere.
The airline’s CEO, Greg Foran, says the Hamilton–Christchurch route “is one of our strongest and fastest-growing regional routes”.
“This marks the second introduction of a jet on a regional route, building on the Invercargill–Auckland jet service launch in 2019,” he says.
AIRPORT UPGRADING
As part of an international terminal upgrade, the airport built a new, separate domestic lounge and redesigned the tarmac to allow for more jet aircraft parking.
About NZ$7 (A$6.4) million has been spent on car parking, equipment and border technology to allow Jetstar flights to Sydney and the Gold Coast to happen, the airport says.
Waikato Regional Airport chief executive Mark Morgan says that the decision to operate a domestic jet service and accepting international flights have proven to be the right calls.
“We were confident domestic jet services would be back but we’ve been very proactive in working to make that happen,” he says.
“There’s been ongoing discussions with Air New Zealand but this is even faster than we had hoped … it’s fantastic news.”
Jetstar is to fly direct to Hamilton from Sydney and the Gold Coast next month. Photo: ANDREW KACIMAIWAI
HUB STATUS
Morgan says that a domestic jet service helps to reinforce Hamilton’s role as a key regional hub; it will also remove travel to Auckland for connections with international flights.
Super Rugby Pacific’s Chiefs side is based out of Hamilton with regular trips across the Tasman as well as hosting Australian sides.
Hamilton is set to become the closest international airport to the global tourism attractions of Hobbiton (30km), the Waitomo Glow Worm caves (66km) and the boiling mud pits of Rotorua (106km).
“It’s a significant step forward for regional aviation so yes, we’ll be very happy to see a jet back on our tarmac later this year,” Morgan says.
He remains hopeful the new service will encourage Jetstar to use the airport domestically “but those are decisions for airlines”.
“Our job is to create an environment to give airlines confidence, and we’ve done that.”
SERVICE DETAILS
The airport says it serves 7300 passengers each week and hosts three commercial airlines: Air New Zealand, Origin Air and Sunair.
The new jet service will add another 170 seats a week with regular Jetstar services between Hamilton and Australia (Sydney and Gold Coast) due to begin in mid-June.
Hamilton has a (territorial) population of 185,300 and is NZ’s fourth biggest city.
