By Lee Scanlon, Westport News
Originair has serviced Westport with an 18-seater Jetstream aircraft.
Photo: Supplied
Westport will lose its only air service on 1 May, unless the government rescues it.
Originair today confirmed it could no longer sustain the losses on the Westport-Wellington route, fewer than 18 months after taking over.
Managing director Robert Inglis said fuel price rises resulting from the Middle East conflict were the final straw. The service was now costing Originair’s shareholders about $500,000 a year, he said.
Originair confirmed last month it was reviewing the service’s future and could not guarantee it beyond mid-May.
The Westport News asked the airline today why its website was showing “sold out” flights from 4-18 May, then no further flights.
Originair then issued a statement confirming it planned to can the service after the last flight on 1 May, unless the government confirmed help by 27 March.
Inglis told the Westport News passenger loadings had been improving, but the airline’s fuel prices had almost doubled as a result of the Middle East conflict.
“This event has been really disappointing because over the last quarter there certainly has been an increase in support and we were hoping that that would get the sector out of hospital…” he said.
“I mean, the economy seems to have started to get out of the grave in the last quarter and we’ve found most sectors have been getting better support and some have had very good support and there has been an improvement with Westport, so this is a real disappointment.”
No jobs would go. The aircraft servicing Westport would be used elsewhere to increase frequency of the half dozen other services Originair operated, Inglis said.
Originair managing director Robert Inglis.
Photo: Supplied
When the airline sought government support last year, its shareholders were supporting the service to the tune of about $250,000 a year, he said. Since the Middle East conflict and fuel price rises, that loss had almost doubled.
He confirmed the airline had put “sold out” on Westport-Wellington flights on its website after 1 May because the flights had no bookings. Originair had also canned its Westport-Wellington service next Wednesday, 25 March, and on 27 April, because no passengers were booked.
“We have to fly to Wellington from Nelson to position ourselves to do the Wellington Westport, Wellington back to Nelson. The cost of that is about $10,000. So then you do think carefully about it if there’s only two or three people from Westport.”
Inglis was disappointed there had been no help so far from the government or Development West Coast. He said a “strong suggestion” before Christmas from Associate Transport Minister James Meager of government support seemed to have evaporated.
In many countries where air services are deemed essential for isolated communities, these routes are supported by central government or major users of the service, he said.
He was disappointed the government spent substantial sums developing cycling and walking tracks to try and attract tourism, but did not do likewise for regional air services.
Originair had applied to the government’s Kanoa Regional Investment Fund for support under the Regional Airline Support Package. However, the response so far had not been positive.
Unless government financial support was confirmed as available by Friday, 27 March, the last service to/from Westport would operate on Friday, 1 May.
Buller Mayor Chris Russell said he and council staff had been advocating for external route support since they found out the service was at risk.
“We acknowledge that operating the route profitably has always been challenging, and that the small market and ever-increasing operational costs have added significant pressures that Originair cannot continue to absorb without external financial support…
“The decision to withdraw is deeply disappointing for council and the community, and we are acutely conscious of the impact this will have on our hard-working airport staff and their families,” Russell said in a statement.
Council’s application to Kānoa’s Regional Investment Fund in September 2025 had been declined, he said.
“Our focus will now switch to working with impacted staff at Westport Airport. We will assess next steps and options for the airport’s future over the coming months, once we are through the immediate operational wrap-up phase.”
The Buller District Council and the Ministry of Transport co-own the airport.
Originair signed a 12-month agreement with the council in October 2024 and took over the service in January last year after Sounds Air pulled out. Sounds Air had replaced Air New Zealand nine years earlier, but found the route was not viable.
Originair operated 18-seater planes with two pilots. Sounds Air had nine-seaters with one pilot.
Last November Mayor Russell appealed, without success, for local businesses to financially support the service.
Associate Transport Minister James Meager said strong regional connectivity across the country is one of his top priorities.
“Origin Air’s potential decision to cease the Wellington/Westport route will understandably be disappointing to those reliant on the connectivity it provides. The airline had indicated the difficulty in maintaining this route, prior to the conflict beginning,” he said.
“The government agreed to make $30 million available for concessionary loans from the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) to help regional airlines manage debt and maintain aircraft. This is aimed to stabilise the sector and support at-risk regional routes in the short to medium term.
“I understand that Origin Air has withdrawn its expression of interest for concessionary loan funding from the RIF. They have expressed interest in an alternate form of operational funding support from the government for its Westport route. This is outside of the terms agreed to by Cabinet for the RIF Regional Connectivity Fund. Any grant or direct route support would require Cabinet to reconsider its earlier decisions and alter the currently approved fund settings on an exception basis.
“There is considerable demand for funding from the RIF. The government is focused on allocating funding at pace to regional airlines that have already submitted their full funding applications within currently approved fund settings. We recently announced Golden Bay Air as the first airline to receive a concessionary loan from the RIF package. Further announcements will be made in due course.
“As a government, we are maintaining a watchful eye on the conflict and its impacts through the newly established Ministerial Economic Security and Supply Chains Group. This provides strategic oversight and co-ordinated leadership to agencies to ensure a quick and effective response to any potential disruptions to petrol, diesel, and jet fuel supplies, as well as other key supply chains.”
– Westport News