It’s Thursday, and Parliament is dissolved today. Five items, and three of them are about how the country’s aviation system is run and paid for. Here’s what’s moving.
Investigators say the Civil Aviation Authority got too close to Air New Zealand to oversee it impartially
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission today published its report on an Air New Zealand Q300 flight from Wellington to Timaru on the night of 13 June 2023, with 33 passengers and three crew on board. During a routine altimeter change at 15,000 feet the captain put the autopilot into vertical speed mode and did not switch it back to the programmed approach. In that mode the aircraft holds a set rate of descent, here 1,400 feet a minute, and ignores altitude limits. 1News reports that the aircraft reached 1,156 feet in an area where the minimum safe altitude was 2,000, about 2,500 feet below its planned path, while both pilots were looking out for the runway lights. The captain corrected it and the aircraft landed safely.
The finding that will travel furthest is not about the cockpit. TAIC found the error had happened on the Q300 fleet before, and RNZ reports six earlier events and two more since the inquiry began. It said the Civil Aviation Authority’s oversight after Air Nelson and Mount Cook were folded into Air New Zealand in 2019 “wasn’t commensurate with the scale of change the airline had gone through”, and that the closeness of the relationship likely made impartial oversight harder. Chief investigator Louise Cook said the event “points to issues beyond that particular cockpit”. Of nine safety issues, seven have been addressed. The two remaining recommendations are for Air New Zealand to keep working with De Havilland Canada on a design fix, and for the CAA to press internationally for longer cockpit voice recordings. Air New Zealand accepted its recommendation but says no technical fix exists yet for its Q300 configuration.
This is the airline’s second TAIC report in a week, after the engine fire evacuation covered here on 25 September. The Q300 fleet flies regional routes like this one to Timaru, which many smaller visitor economies depend on. The regional network is only as good as the airline’s safety record, and the regulator’s credibility behind it.
Stat of the day
844 ft
How far the Q300 went below the 2,000-foot minimum safe altitude on its night approach to Timaru, bottoming out at 1,156 feet. (1News, from the TAIC report)
Source: TAIC media release, TAIC inquiry AO-2023-007, RNZ, 1News
SkyCity has cut more than 200 roles and hired advisers to talk to would-be buyers
SkyCity told the NZX yesterday that it has finished cutting more than 200 corporate roles in New Zealand, as part of a cost programme aimed at $30 million of savings in the 2027 financial year and $70 million in 2028. It has appointed UBS and Chapman Tripp to engage with parties interested in a possible transaction for the group, after its board rejected two unsolicited takeover proposals received on 25 August as undervaluing the company and carrying problematic conditions. The board says there is no certainty any deal will result.
The hospitality side is where the visitor economy comes in. SkyCity is aiming for $275 million to $300 million of asset sales by the end of 2026. It has sold commercial properties for $74.5 million, and says the sale of the Grand Hotel beside its Auckland casino is in advanced, exclusive negotiations, with a binding agreement expected soon. Its Adelaide casino is also going to a formal sale process. Auckland’s central-city hotel stock, and the precinct around the new convention centre that SkyCity built, may change hands one piece at a time before anyone buys the company.
Source: SkyCity via NZX, NZ Herald, August
KiwiRail’s tourist trains carried 3 percent more passengers and made less money doing it
KiwiRail’s integrated report for the year to 30 June puts revenue for Great Journeys New Zealand and its commuter services at $59.1 million, up 5.2 percent from $56.2 million and just short of its $60 million plan. The TranzAlpine, Coastal Pacific and Northern Explorer carried more than 190,000 passengers, up 3 percent, across more than 1,300 trips and 40 multi-day tours. Growth came from Scenic Plus carriages, packages and event trains, but the report says operating profitability fell because costs rose faster. It names the next priorities as an easier booking path, simpler refunds and rebooking, and better communication when weather disrupts a service.
Interislander’s revenue fell 7.8 percent to $144.8 million in its first year with two ships after Aratere was retired. It carried 473,000 passengers, and moving unused freight space to passenger vehicles lifted utilisation from 73 to 83 percent. The warning for summer planners is in the outlook: during scheduled dry docks this year Interislander will run one ship, freight comes first, and passenger capacity may be cut at times. The new ferries are due in 2029.
Source: KiwiRail Integrated Report 2026 (PDF), KiwiRail
The CAA proposes a 5 percent cut to passenger security levies, and airlines decide whether fares move
The Civil Aviation Authority has opened targeted consultation on cutting the domestic passenger security levy from $10.91 to $10.36 and the international levy from $22.30 to $21.19, excluding GST. That is 55 cents off a domestic ticket and $1.11 off an international one. The CAA estimates the cut would reduce collections by a cumulative $70.9 million to 2032. It says the cut is possible because its cash reserves recovered faster than expected, and B2B News reports two reasons behind that: new 3D scanners, which let screeners check laptops without taking them out of bags, and tighter rostering that cut overtime. CAA chair Mark Darrow called the cut “unprecedented”. Consultation closes at noon on 14 October.
Levies usually only go one way, and these rose in July 2025, so a cut is welcome. It is also small. The CAA says whether it shows up in airfares is up to each airline. Associate Transport Minister James Meager framed the benefit as money airlines can invest elsewhere, which is a fair description of where most of it will go.
Source: Civil Aviation Authority via LiveNews, Associate Transport Minister via LiveNews, B2B News
Air New Zealand is adding more than 7,000 Shanghai seats for Chinese New Year
From 23 January to 20 February 2027, Air New Zealand will run three extra return services a week between Shanghai and Auckland, taking the route to ten a week and adding more than 7,000 seats. With partner Air China, the two airlines will run up to 24 services a week between New Zealand and China at the peak, across Shanghai and Beijing. Chief commercial officer Scott Wilkinson said the airline is “being deliberate about where we add capacity”.
After months of cuts driven by fuel prices, capacity is going where the yield is, and Chinese New Year in the middle of the southern summer is one of the few periods when demand is reliable in both directions. For operators, the timing matters: the extra seats land in the weeks when accommodation and activities in the main centres are already busiest, so the benefit goes to whoever has room left in February.
Source: Air New Zealand
Coming up
- 4 October: Writ day for the general election
- 8 October: The old visitor visa application forms close and remaining drafts are deleted
- 12 October: Community drop-in on the proposed sale of Napier’s Kennedy Park Resort
- 14 October: CAA consultation on the security levy cut closes at noon, and Stats NZ releases international travel figures for August
- 25 October: Air New Zealand’s expanded Hobart to Auckland season starts
- 28 October: Reserve Bank OCR decision, and Air New Zealand’s first Christchurch to Singapore service
- 4 November: Tourism Summit Aotearoa and the NZ Tourism Awards, Te Pae Christchurch
- 7 November: General election
- 23 January to 20 February 2027: Air New Zealand’s extra Shanghai to Auckland services
That's today's briefing. The Shoulder Season is back every weekday morning.