Applause as direct transtasman flight takes off
The motley crew assembled in the departure lounge are the usual suspects of any airport.
A man buried in his book of crosswords, a boy with Spider-Man headphones pressed up against the window, a woman with a pre-emptive fake tan.
Holiday-goers, opportunists, children dragged along for the ride — the usual impatience is in the air.
But as bums fill seats in the terminal, anticipation begins to swell.
John Denver's Leaving, On a Jet Plane and other air travel balladry set the tone.
Suit trousers wait next to sweatpants.
Two women sip bubbles from wine glasses, one swinging her leg back and forth.
Others are in less of a celebratory mood — one passenger slumps cross-armed in her seat, eyes shut tight and mouth agape in a snore.
Two aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles creating a water arch — an aviation tradition — draws eyes away from the smartphones and towards the terminal windows.
Gazing out the window at the tarmac in a Jetstar-branded cap is retired Dunedin school teacher Peter Humphrey.
"I didn't realise until today it was actually the first flight," he tells me.
"I'd bought my tickets months ago. I had no idea."
He only gets across the Ditch, where he has family, about every seven or eight years and is grateful the route has returned.
"It'll mean that if I win the lottery I can go over much more... it's a connection to my family which is very, very important."
The inaugural flight is but one first for Ben Calder and Ruby Walton.
It is their first big trip together as a couple.
"Originally we were just going to do a road trip across New Zealand, but then we saw that it was cheap as to go to Gold Coast, and we were like why not?," Ben says.
As the call for boarding is made, a passenger wearing a beanie with a pom-pom seems to have not cottoned-on to the weather awaiting her on the other side.
A bloke in shorts has the right idea — or perhaps that is just the southern man's regular winter attire.
Sitting towards the front of the packed aircraft is Dunedin teenager Benjamin Paterson, who is congratulated by the captain over the intercom for his 25,000-signature petition to get international flights back.
Those aboard this first international voyage applaud the teen's efforts.
One wait is over, and another begins.
"Please sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight."
tim.scott@odt.co.nz
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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Applause as direct transtasman flight takes off
The motley crew assembled in the departure lounge are the usual suspects of any airport. A man buried in his book of crosswords, a boy with Spider-Man headphones pressed up against the window, a woman with a pre-emptive fake tan. Holiday-goers, opportunists, children dragged along for the ride — the usual impatience is in the air. But as bums fill seats in the terminal, anticipation begins to swell. John Denver's Leaving, On a Jet Plane and other air travel balladry set the tone. Suit trousers wait next to sweatpants. Two women sip bubbles from wine glasses, one swinging her leg back and forth. Others are in less of a celebratory mood — one passenger slumps cross-armed in her seat, eyes shut tight and mouth agape in a snore. Two aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles creating a water arch — an aviation tradition — draws eyes away from the smartphones and towards the terminal windows. Gazing out the window at the tarmac in a Jetstar-branded cap is retired Dunedin school teacher Peter Humphrey. "I didn't realise until today it was actually the first flight," he tells me. "I'd bought my tickets months ago. I had no idea." He only gets across the Ditch, where he has family, about every seven or eight years and is grateful the route has returned. "It'll mean that if I win the lottery I can go over much more... it's a connection to my family which is very, very important." The inaugural flight is but one first for Ben Calder and Ruby Walton. It is their first big trip together as a couple. "Originally we were just going to do a road trip across New Zealand, but then we saw that it was cheap as to go to Gold Coast, and we were like why not?," Ben says. As the call for boarding is made, a passenger wearing a beanie with a pom-pom seems to have not cottoned-on to the weather awaiting her on the other side. A bloke in shorts has the right idea — or perhaps that is just the southern man's regular winter attire. Sitting towards the front of the packed aircraft is Dunedin teenager Benjamin Paterson, who is congratulated by the captain over the intercom for his 25,000-signature petition to get international flights back. Those aboard this first international voyage applaud the teen's efforts. One wait is over, and another begins. "Please sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight."
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Arriving on a jet plane
Of the dozen or more planes which landed at Dunedin Airport on Tuesday, one Jetstar flight was just that little bit more special than the other arrivals. When the Airbuses' wheels hit the Momona tarmac at 2.30pm, Dunedin Airport was once again Dunedin International Airport, as the first of three scheduled weekly flights between here and the Gold Coast reconnected the southern city with Australia, and the world. To say that the flight had been eagerly awaited would be a major understatement. Southern tourism operators, already slammed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, have been desperate for an international flight of some description to resume on a route to Dunedin. While tens of thousands of cruise ship passengers make for a busy spring and summer, operators do bring tours to Dunedin in autumn and winter, and some visitors to southern skifields do roam further afield, there is no substitute for a potential 20,000-plus visitors a year landing at your doorstep. Quite apart from the potential tourism spend benefits of the new route for Dunedin, for families who have loved ones on either side of the Tasman, reuniting for important life milestones will now be just that little bit easier. Both they and the business community will welcome not having to book three or four connecting flights to get themselves from Dunedin to points further afield, or having to make a time-consuming drive to Queenstown or Christchurch to fly directly out of the country. The subject of international flights has been an important one for Otago Daily Times readers — it is a regular topic of letters to the editor, and even more so after local teen Benjamin Paterson launched his lobbying campaign for Dunedin to be put back on flight schedules. This was, of course, something which many people in the city had been working on for many months, although the added impetus of the publicity Benjamin gained did those working in the background no harm whatsoever. Many people, from the airport to the council to local politicians to Benjamin Patterson, can claim a moment in the sunshine which that first plane was bathed in when it landed in Dunedin on Tuesday. But in many ways the hard work starts now. As many of our aforementioned readers have noted in their letters, Jetstar is a business, not a charity, and unless people use this new route it will be closed. The expense, let alone the carbon footprint, of transtasman flights will be unjustifiable if the Airbus is full of empty seats. Dunedin's tourism operators already enthusiastically spruik the city and region's virtues to potential overseas visitors. Those efforts, not just in the Australian market but further afield, will now need to be redoubled so as to ensure a steady stream of sightseers to the city. Conference organisers should also be encouraged to put Dunedin back on their schedules, now that it is potentially easier for overseas attendees to make their way South. Inevitably, some have questioned whether Coolangatta is really the prime destination in Australia which southerners wish to travel to. But quite apart from the fact that there is plenty to recommend about its Gold Coast location, Coolangatta is an hour by road from Brisbane and its airport has regular connecting flights to all state capitals, as well as Indonesia, Canada and the United States. That does indeed make Dunedin closer to the world. The welcome mat was well and truly out on Tuesday, and hopefully it will remain so. Takutai Tarsh Kemp The death of Te Pati Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp yesterday was the second time this Parliamentary term that the House has had to adjourn business as MPs mourn one of their own. She was not a prolific contributor in the debating chamber, but the kidney complaint which she quietly managed and which claimed her at the cruelly young age of 50 offers an explanation for that. It is also a reminder, as was the death of Green list MP Fa'anānā Efeso Collins last year, that there is an inequality in life expectancy statistics in New Zealand. Ms Kemp was a campaigner for Māori deprivation to be recognised and addressed, and that will be her political legacy.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Tourists ‘stoked' at whale pod discovery
Harbour tourist boat Monarch lurks close to a pod of up to 7 Right whales which mooched around in the harbour on Wednesday. PHOTO: STPEHEN JAQUIERY It was difficult to tell who was having more of a whale of a time — the whales, or the tourists on board an Otago Harbour wildlife cruise. Monarch Cruises guest ambassador AJ Carrick said they had about 10 people on board when they came across seven adult southern right whales near Harington Point. "I don't know exactly why they were there, but they seemed quite relaxed and they were kind of more like socialising, as opposed to feeding, because they were on their side a lot and waving their pectoral fins and you could hear them singing or chatting to each other as well, which was really cool. She said everyone on board was very excited and busy trying to take photos of the rare occasion. "They were all pretty frothing. I've heard of so many people hanging over the side to get a better look. "Everyone I've talked to was like, 'oh my gosh'. They were well stoked. Miss Carrick said she had heard from others, that the whales were also spotted further up the harbour at Waipuna Bay, before turning around and heading back out to sea. It was a special moment for all who were lucky enough to witness it, she said. Documentary film-maker Bill Morris, of Port Chalmers, said he had been "lucky enough to spend quite a lot of time with southern right whales down in the Auckland Islands but yesterday was the first time he had seen one — let alone seven — in Otago Harbour. A pod of seven southern right whales make themselves at home in Otago Harbour yesterday. PHOTO: BILL MORRIS "It was amazing just to hear the sounds, the reverberating sounds of their breathing, Mr Morris said. "It gave me chills, to be honest, to hear those noises echoing around the harbour and to see those whales back in after such a long absence. "It was, yeah, quite an emotional thing to see and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt that today. Department of Conservation marine technical adviser Hannah Hendriks said it was "an exciting sighting because it was unusual to see a group of this size, this close to mainland New Zealand. "Usually, we only see individuals or mother and calf pairs. "Their population suffered dramatic losses from whaling, and they came close to extinction. "Hopefully this sighting is a good sign the population is slowly recovering, and that we continue to see more southern right whales around our coast. She said during this time of year, they were typically found at their breeding grounds around the subantarctic Auckland and Campbell Islands, but there were occasional sightings around mainland New Zealand. "It's exciting to see whales like this, but we remind people to please share our coasts with whales responsibly by giving them plenty of space and following the Marine Mammal Protection Regulations.
