NZRO trans tas from June 09??
 

This from a Tourism Newletter.

22/10/08

Direct flights between Rotorua and Australia could start next June.
Rotorua District Council has unanimously decided to let the $8.4 million airport extension contract to Fulton Hogan, and the project could see Rotorua Airport ready for international flights from Australia as early as June 2009.

Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing (DRTM) general manager Don Gunn says regular direct air services from Australia will open up lucrative markets for Rotorua.

“We’ll now be able to sell Rotorua’s vast range of accommodation and attractions and join forces with neighbouring regions to expand the visitor experience, using Rotorua as the hub,” he says.

Once direct flight services are in place, Australians will be able to visit Rotorua for short stays. Rotorua’s profile in Australia will treble, giving DRTM the potential to attract new visitors to the region.

Rotorua’s restaurants and cafés are also sure to benefit from the increased number of visitors.

Rotorua will also be seen as a top region for new businesses, new investment and new employment opportunities.

Sounds like $8.4 M wasted- another example of a local council with money to swander... HLZ a good example.:confused:

why is this 8.4 mil wasted?? If they can open rotovegas up for international flights it would be good for the town dont you think? besides they spent enough money on upgrading the airport by now so they might as wel.
Or did i mis understood your post?
cheers:ok:

Field of Dreams
 

It's amazing how many airport companies work on the "Field of Dreams" principle...
"Build it and they will come..."
Unfortunately that only works in the movies...and in fact in Hamilton it has turned into...
"Build it and they buggr off!!"

I guess that means the small vocal group opposed to the extension due to the rare virgin oozing swamp/conservation area at the end of the rwy have given up!!??

Must be all too busy with the green party campaign:ok:

Rotorua would be a bad bad bad idea ... Given its actual location it would not suit any tour operators as tours tend to start North then go south or vv. Same with DIY holidayers then fly in to AKL and go South and fly out of CHC or ZQN ... With Rotorua sort of being in the middle it would mean alot of backtracking! and I dont see many people flying to NZ just to spend a w/end in Rotorua.

hmmm......

I hope the council has sought advice from a couple of the airlines before they spend the money.

Airlines pay a lot of attention to how many travel to where (with some very good software to capture the data) and it is interesting to note that no airline has publicly pushed for adequate trans tasman facilities at Vegas before now. With its comprehensive domestic network, no one would know better than AirNZ what the likely Tasman market would be out of Vegas.

Perhaps while the Hamilton destination only appealed locals outbound (and the traditional home of SJ), the Vegas option atleast has a bit more going for it with the inbound market.

My last impression of the tourist market in Vegas was the vast number of Asians in tour busses. And a trans Tasman connection is of little value to them.

Don't worry about the 8.4 mil. They'll increase the departure tax to take care of that.

Who is kidding who here? Are the councillors being blinded by bull**** or do they truely believe that they are going to get the inbound numbers to make an "investment" of 8.4 big ones worthwhile.

Someone should be taking them to task and asking how they justify such expenditure. I bet the numbers won't stand up to proper scrutiny. Once again we have people with inflated opinions of their own importance building a monument to themselves, with other peoples money.

How many airlines are there who would want to cross the Tasman to NZRO. Have they done any real research?

My bet is a very substantial sweetener will need to be offered to get any trans Tasman operation up and going, any forecast return from the planned expenditure will be more than lost here.

The money would be better spent getting tourists who are flying into Auckland to travel to the Rotorua area and to get them to spend more time there. Having said that, getting people to spend more time in a smelly hole that RO is will be a challenge.

I may be recapping, but for tourists (the ones the put cash in our ecomomy) Rotorua is much better than Hamilton. Lets face it, people arriving in Hamilton, the first thing they did was try to book a bus to Rotorua.

Rotorua is the Queenstown of the North. :D

Errr NO. The feedback I got from tourists was that Rotorua was a smelly over rated tacky tourist city. They much preferred Taupo to Rotorua, especially the Aussies. Going accross the Tasman direct into Taupo would make more sense and even that is a stupid idea.

I can just imagine the A320 Captain calling "holding at Ohura, inbound Taupo due skydiving"

You do have quite an imagination don't you mattyj ... :D

I think he just has more time on his hands now.....:bored:

almost like being a corporate pilot:}

more like 'EUD hold to the north 16 thousand. expect further delay two zero minutes for Airbus and mulitple training IFR aircraft '

no reply from EUD as he's running low on O2 and saving his breath.....

Rotorua is the gateway to Kawerau. Everyone wants to go there.

Mt Ruapehu should also get right behind this, using it as a closer gateway to their outstanding regular snow conditions... ski shuttles competing with the fly-in/fly-out ski holidays from Oz to Queenstown and Christchurch.
Good luck to them (and Taupo).

whats the bet they will get it up and running and she will blow her top again,
put everyone off for good,

I agree that Rotorua is over-rated as a tourist destination, but the fact remains that Air NZ and Qantas see fit to operate 737s there, yet give Hamilton a wide birth. Sure, a lot of it is the Asian market, but in some respects there's more demand for seats into ROT than HLZ. This could mean it does better as an international port than HLZ, but that may still not be enough to make it profitable.

If they can make it work, good on them - I'm sure they will do the market research before parting with that sort of dosh. People seem extremely quick to jump to negative conclusions.

CC,

Air New Zealand used to only operate the B733 domestic CHC - ROT - CHC as an extension of the ZQN service during the summer months and have now pulled out of even that.

QF also operate the flight as an extension of the ZQN service but have a contract with an international package tour operator which is why they are still there, though they may not even operate it for much longer.

Ah, thanks for that. Wasn't sure about the current situation.

I actually think Air NZ should put 737s back through HLZ at peak times. The morning ATRs and the Dash generally seem to load pretty well. Of course there's no contest on efficency.

Come on guys, Rotovegas rocks..from the luge..to black-power down the main drag on a Friday and Sat nite:}
Actually, I think the place has its on little niche in NZ tourism terms, its unusually (for the North Island) quite well set up for the tourist trade.
To get some perspective on this, some of you need to visit Europe through the summer holidays..and the ski resorts in the winter, Rotovegas actually scores quite well IMHO.
Is that enough to attract a bunch of knuckle dragging sore losers in sufficient quantities from across the Tasman I'm not so sure...but then thats why I fly aeroplanes..rather than sell seats. :}

Taumarunui is close to Ruapehu and taupo as well. Why not put it there? Its got an NDB. Rangi and honei can do the check in at the aeroclub, it will be choice as bro.
Pleased im not paying rates in rotovegas, what a waste. 1000+ft mda on the VOR and crosswind limitations make it pretty hard to operate jets in there. Hamilton isnt that much further from Taupo and Ruapehu and that didnt work. most of the tourists on the jets are asian or yanks who fly into AA on prebooked tours, the money would be better spent widening to runway.

I gotta agree Rotorua stinks and is over priced. Taupo is much better.

hell, why not waiouru, security wouldnt be a problem, and the flamin mountain is right next door

I seem to recall the carrot festival just down the road was a fun day out:ugh:

Haughtny if you're talking about the Waiuru army barrack block then thats just plain disgusting dude.

Oakune framer..a little town called Oakune that has a festival of carrots :ok:

Thats all right then, arghmmm...as you were, carry on.

Widening the runway, yes, but other considerations are also required like types of approach, RNP perhaps, allowing jets down to a lower altitude, and strengthening the runway to take heavier jets, especially those that will be heading back across the ditch. There is also approach profiles to be considered especially with longer runways and then the local politics relating to the marae at the northern end of the runway and it goes on and on. :ugh:

NZRO NOT going to happen now??
 

21/Nov

While Rotorua's airport is being upgraded to be ready for international flights by June, there is apparently no interest from the airlines.

Both Air New Zealand and Qantas have confirmed they have no plans to have trans-Tasman flights service Rotorua despite the $8.4 million airport extension, reports TravelTrade New Zealand.

It also quotes a Pacific Blue spokesman as saying the airline has no plans to launch a Rotorua service.

While Rotorua mayor Kevin Winter has said the airport company is "talking closely" with international carriers "seriously interested" in the route, air services between Hamilton and Sydney and the Gold Coast have been suspended from March to October.

Tasman Pacific's New Zealand general manager Glen Sowry has attributed this to week demand and an oversupply of trans-Tasman services from Auckland.

@@

There was also another story grizzling about how spending on libraries, facilites etc were in jeopardy due the big spend at airport.:eek:

On the flip side to all these upgrades, is that it keeps us Civil Engineers (Airport designers) and our Civil Engineering Contractors from getting too fat dumb and happy :ok:.

Letter I wrote to the editor of our local Rotorua paper regarding this issue.
Basically, I can see both sides but I'm not convinced it will happen and be a success. Though I would love to see international flights from my local airport.

I am excited to see work at Rotorua airport going ahead, and I hope to see international flights operating from Rotorua soon.

However, I am not entirely convinced that they will be a complete success. First of all, both Qantas and Air New Zealand are quickly losing enthusiasm and commitment for the Rotorua market. Air New Zealand are supposedly withdrawing domestic jet services from Rotorua next season (which may come as a major blow - retaining these jet services has been high in the list of priorities for Rotorua), and Qantas apparently only serves Rotorua because of contractual reasons. Pacific Blue does not yet fly to Rotorua, neither does Jetstar (although there are several rumours regarding Jetstar), and the current economic climate may prevent any airline expansion for the forseeable future. There are essentially no other airlines in a realistic position to serve Rotorua.

Furthermore, TravelTrade New Zealand has said that both Air New Zealand and Qantas have confirmed that they have no plans to operate trans-Tasman flights from Rotorua.

In addition, the provincial airports have not traditionally been successes when it comes to international flying. Hamilton, Dunedin and Palmerston North have all seen downturns in passenger numbers and cuts in service. Queenstown is the notable exception - it is a tourist trap that continues to enjoy high demand and high levels of service. The recent New Zealand Aviation Overview released by the Ministry of Tourism further reiterated this fact.

Of course, Rotorua is a considerable tourist market, although this mainly comes from Asia rather than from Australia. For this reason, international flights are more feasible from Rotorua than they are from many of the other provincial airports who would like such services. I think there is huge potential for international services from Rotorua and would love to see it happen, although I'm not convinced that they will be an ultimate success. I am hopeful, but cautious where Rotorua trans-Tasman services are concerned - a huge amount of money and work is required, and I would hate to see it all go to waste.

Don't worry it won't all go to waste. Mayor Kevin and friends will get great personal value from their monument even though there may be no international flights.

I agree, and the international flights therefore need to be coming from Asia which means bigger, heavier aircraft and the associated infrastructure these aircraft require, which is not just a longer runway. I doubt there is enough potential business to justify such expenditure.