Originair
{{Short description|Airline of New Zealand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2016}}
{{About|the airline founded in 2015|the airline that operated from 1997 to 2006|Origin Pacific Airways}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline = Originair
| image = Origin-logo-300x94-300x94.png
| image_size = 250
| alt =
| caption =
| IATA = OGNot an IATA allocation - issued for domestic use by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
| ICAO = OGNNot an ICAO allocation - issued for domestic use by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
| founded = March 2015
| commenced = 12 August 2015
| ceased =
| aoc =
| bases = Nelson Airport
| hubs =
| secondary_hubs =
| focus_cities =
| frequent_flyer = Originair Rewards
| lounge =
| alliance =
| subsidiaries =
| fleet_size = 3
| destinations = 6
| company_slogan =
| parent =
| headquarters = Nelson, New Zealand
| key_people = {{unbulleted list |Robert Inglis (Managing Director)}}
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
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| website = [http://www.originair.co.nz/ originair.co.nz]
| notes =
}}
File:Originair J31 at Christchurch.jpg, December 2015]]
Originair is an airline based in Nelson, New Zealand, that operates domestic flights in New Zealand. It was founded in 2015 by local businessman Robert Inglis, who had previously founded Air Nelson and Origin Pacific Airways. Originair commenced operations on 12 August 2015 with flights between Nelson and Palmerston North; it started flights between Nelson and Wellington the following month. The airline began its operations with one British Aerospace Jetstream 31 aircraft, and now operates a fleet of three aircraft, following the addition of another 2 Jetstream 32 aircraft.{{cite web|last1=Basham|first1=Laura|title=New airline Originair set to go|date=24 June 2015|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/69661139/new-airline-originair-set-to-go|publisher=The Nelson Mail|access-date=26 June 2015}}
History
=Background=
Nelson businessman Robert Inglis founded Air Nelson in 1979 with Nicki Smith. Air New Zealand purchased 50 per cent of the airline in October 1988, and the remaining share in 1996. Air Nelson operated as one of Air New Zealand's regional subsidiaries, operating turboprop aircraft on domestic routes under the Air New Zealand Link brand, until Air New Zealand announced it would merge Air Nelson and Mount Cook Airlines into its mainline fleet in 2019. Inglis and Smith subsequently founded Origin Pacific Airways in 1996, to provide regional flights around New Zealand. It had a code-share agreement with Qantas' New Zealand subsidiary Jetconnect between 2001 and 2004, allowing Origin Pacific's regional flights to connect with the larger airline's domestic and international routes. The termination of the code-share agreement resulted in Origin Pacific Airways losing 60% of its business, and it went into liquidation in 2006.{{cite web|title=About Originair|url=http://originair.nz/about/ |publisher=Originair|access-date=26 June 2015}}
=Operation=
In 2015, Inglis founded Originair in response to Air New Zealand's termination of direct flights between Nelson and Palmerston North. Flight operations were contracted out to Air Freight NZ although the aircraft were painted in Originair's livery. The airline commenced operations on 12 August 2015 when flights between Nelson and Palmerston North began. Flights between Nelson and Wellington began the following month on 13 September 2015.
In February 2016, issues with Air Freight NZ's operating certificate led to the grounding of the Jetstream aircraft by New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The issues were stated to be "very specific to the particular operation" of Originair. Originair briefly contracted another company, Airwork, to operate its flights using Metroliner aircraft,{{cite web|last1=Redmond|first1=Adele|title=CAA investigating Originair operator Air Freight NZ over safety concerns|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/77196786/CAA-investigating-Originair-operator-Air-Freight-NZ-over-safety-concerns|website=Stuff.co.nz|date=23 February 2016|access-date=14 April 2016}} although when this arrangement terminated at the end of March 2016, Originair temporarily ceased operations.{{cite web|last1=Moore|first1=Bill|title=Nelson's Originair grounding should be over soon says Inglis|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/78889763/nelsons-originair-grounding-should-be-over-soon-says-inglis|website=Stuff.co.nz|date=13 April 2016|access-date=14 April 2016}}
In July 2016 the airline announced it had resolved most of its CAA issues and would resume flights in September 2016 under the operation and Air Operating Certificate of Inflite Charters. It was announced that flights would resume between Nelson and Palmerston North, which had lacked a direct flight while Originair's operations were suspended, but flights between Nelson and Wellington would not resume because the introduction of Jetstar had made the route too competitive.{{cite news|last1=Redmond|first1=Adele|title=Originair resumes flights to Palmerston North|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/81847222/originair-resumes-flights-to-wellington|access-date=8 July 2016|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|date=7 July 2016}}
On 23 September 2016, Originair recommenced regular scheduled services between Nelson and Palmerston North, with flights being operated by air2there using Cessna Grand Caravans and Piper Chieftains. Flights with Originair's own aircraft resumed in June 2017. Originair added a new route from Nelson to New Plymouth on 29 September 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://originair.co.nz/news/|title = News – Originair}} Hawke's Bay Airport at Napier was added to their network from 28 September 2018.{{cite news |title=Airline to launch direct flights between Napier, New Plymouth and Palmerston North |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/105997813/airline-to-launch-direct-flights-between-napier-new-plymouth-and-palmerston-north |access-date=3 August 2018 |publisher=Stuff.co.nz |date=3 August 2018}}{{cite news |title=Inaugural commercial flight from New Plymouth to Napier takes off |first=Abe |last=Leach |url= https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12133493 |newspaper=Hawkes Bay Today |via=The New Zealand Herald |date=29 September 2018 |access-date=29 February 2020}} Flights to Wellington resumed on 14 February 2020.{{cite news |title=Originair adds Nelson-Wellington route |url=https://originair.co.nz/originair-adds-nelson-wellington-route/ |access-date=16 January 2020}}
Flights to Napier resumed on 17 September 2021 and expanded services linked the city to Hamilton and Palmerston North for the first time.{{cite news |title=Nelson's Originair expanding to Hawke's Bay |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/126012969/nelsons-originair-expanding-to-hawkes-bay |access-date=9 August 2021 |publisher=Stuff.co.nz}}
In October 2024 Originair decided to serve Westport from Wellington from January 2025. 2 months later Originair decided to serve Taupo from Wellington from February 2025.
Destinations
Originair operates scheduled services to the following destinations within New Zealand:
Originair also operates charter flights throughout New Zealand.{{Cite web|url=http://originair.co.nz/booking-and-schedule/|title = Booking and Schedule – Originair}}
Fleet
The Originair fleet consists of the following aircraft:{{cite news|last1=Neal|first1=Tracy|title=Origin founder rises again|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/277154/origin-founder-rises-again|access-date=3 July 2015|publisher=Radio NZ|date=25 June 2015}}
| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse"
|+ Originair fleet |
| Aircraft
! Total ! Orders ! Passengers |
|---|
| British Aerospace Jetstream 32
|{{center|3}} |{{center| -}} |{{center|19}} |
| Total
!3 !0 ! |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal bar|New Zealand|Companies|Aviation}}
{{airlines of New Zealand}}
Category:Airlines of New Zealand