Ansett New Zealand

Ansett New Zealand was an airline serving the New Zealand domestic market between 1987 and 2001. It was a subsidiary of Ansett Australia. In order to comply with regulatory requirements relating to the acquisition of Ansett Transit Industries by Air New Zealand, Ansett New Zealand was sold to News Corporation and later rebranded as Tasman Pacific Airlines (legally Tasman Pacific Airlines of New Zealand Limited) in 2000, operating as a Qantas franchise under the Qantas New Zealand brand. It went into receivership and subsequently liquidation in 2001.

Ansett New Zealand

Ansett New Zealand BAe 146-300 in 1996
IATA ICAO Call sign ZQ NZA ANZA
Founded	13 February 1985 (1985-02-13) (as Newmans Air) 29 August 2000 (2000-08-29) (as Tasman Pacific Airlines)
Commenced operations	25 July 1987 (1987-07-25) (as Ansett New Zealand) 4 September 2000 (2000-09-04) (as Tasman Pacific Airlines)
Ceased operations	29 August 2000 (2000-08-29) (as Ansett New Zealand) 20 April 2001 (2001-04-20) (as Tasman Pacific Airlines)
Operating bases	Auckland Christchurch
Alliance	Star Alliance (Ansett; 1999–2000) Oneworld (Qantas; 2000–2001)
Parent company	Ansett Australia (1987–2000) Qantas (2000–2001)
Headquarters	Auckland
Website	www.ansett.co.nz www.qantas.co.nz

Ansett New Zealand British Aerospace 146 at Wellington, August 1999

Ansett New Zealand Bombardier Dash 8 at Hamilton, July 2000

Ansett New Zealand Boeing 737–130, November 1988

History

Ansett New Zealand was the result of Ansett Australia's desire to expand into the New Zealand market, enabled by the relaxation of regulation in the aviation sector by the fourth Labour government.^[1] Ansett Transport Industries formed a partnership with two New Zealand companies, Brierley Investments and Newmans Coach Lines, the latter being a tourism company which owned the unprofitable Newmans Air.^[1] Newmans Air formed the basis for a new expanded airline, the company being Bilmans Management Ltd, operating as Ansett New Zealand. Half its shares (the maximum allowed for a foreign company) were owned by Ansett, with Brierley holding 27.5% and Newmans holding 22.5%.^[1] Subsequently, regulations were relaxed still further, and Ansett took full ownership in April 1988.^[1][2]

Operations started on 25 July 1987 with three Boeing 737-100 aircraft between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.^[3][4] The ex Newmans Air de Havilland Canada Dash 7s were used on tourist routes between Auckland, Rotorua, Christchurch, Mount Cook and Queenstown. The old and noisy Boeing 737 aircraft were replaced with new and quieter British Aerospace 146s known as "Whisper Jets". Routes were extended to Dunedin and Invercargill. Also the old Dash-7s were replaced with the much more fuel efficient Bombardier Dash 8s. By the year 2000 the fleet had risen to eight BAE-146s (one a quick change version to convert to freighter operations) and five Dash-8s.

During the early 1990s, Ansett New Zealand created television advertisements emphasising the airline's customer service. One advert featured a businessman (played by Peter Hambleton) who accidentally brought his cat Fluffy to the airport; the Ansett gate agent subsequently takes Fluffy off the businessman's hands and arranges for the cat to be taken home. The advert was voted the best by public vote in the 1992 Fair Go Ad Awards.^[5][6]

In 1996, Air New Zealand made a bid to purchase half of Ansett Transport Industries, after an open skies agreement for the former to fly within Australia was abruptly withdrawn. Anti-monopoly regulators did not want Air New Zealand to gain control of Ansett's operations in New Zealand, however, and it was therefore required that the two Ansett airlines would be separated. Ansett would be owned by Air New Zealand and (until it was bought out) News Corporation, while Ansett New Zealand would be owned by News Corporation exclusively.

In June 2000, News Corporation sold Ansett New Zealand to Tasman Pacific Airlines that was owned by a group of investors including RM Williams.^[2][7] Shortly afterwards, the company became a franchise of Qantas, operating under the Qantas New Zealand brand.^[8][9][10] The following year, however, the airline went into liquidation.^[11] Qantas's later involvement in the New Zealand domestic market was unrelated and not through a franchise agreement.

Fleet

• 12 British Aerospace 146s; including 2 -200, 1 200QC, 6 300, and 3 -300A
• 2 Dash 7 (inherited from Newmans Air)
• 9 Bombardier Dash 8; including 7 -102 and 2 -311
• 5 Boeing 737–130
• 5 Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (operated by Rex Aviation as Tranzair and later Ansett regional scheduled services, ended by 1999 and replaced by Jetstream)
• 5 BAe Jetstream 32EP (operated by Rex Aviation and Air National as Ansett regional)

Destinations

Prior to the suspension of domestic passenger services, the airline (as at January 2001) operated services to the following scheduled destinations:^[12]

Destination	Country	IATA	ICAO	Airport	Start	End	Status
Auckland	New Zealand	AKL	NZAA	Auckland Airport			Terminated
Blenheim	New Zealand	BHE	NZWB	Woodbourne Airport			Terminated
Christchurch	New Zealand	CHC	NZCH	Christchurch Airport			Terminated
Dunedin	New Zealand	DUD	NZDN	Dunedin Airport			Terminated
Hamilton	New Zealand	HLZ	NZHN	Hamilton Airport			Terminated
Invercargill	New Zealand	IVC	NZNV	Invercargill Airport			Terminated
Milford Sound	New Zealand	MFN	NZMF	Milford Sound Airport			Terminated
Nelson	New Zealand	NSN	NZNS	Nelson Airport			Terminated
Palmerston North	New Zealand	PMR	NZPM	Palmerston North Airport			Terminated
Queenstown	New Zealand	ZQN	NZQN	Queenstown Airport			Terminated
Rotorua	New Zealand	ROT	NZRO	Rotorua Airport			Terminated
Te Anau	New Zealand	TEU	NZMO	Te Anau Airport			Terminated
Whakatāne	New Zealand	WHK	NZWK	Whakatāne Airport			Terminated
Whangārei	New Zealand	WRE	NZWR	Whangarei Airport			Terminated
Wellington	New Zealand	WLG	NZWN	Wellington Airport			Terminated

Accidents

• Ansett New Zealand's first accident involved a BAe 146–200 that ran off the end of the runway at Queenstown Airport on 28 April 1990. However the aircraft only suffered minor damage.
• Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was an Ansett New Zealand scheduled passenger transport flight from Auckland to Palmerston North. On 9 June 1995, the Dash 8 aircraft flying this route crashed west of the Tararua Ranges and 16 km east of Palmerston North Airport, during an instrument approach in bad weather. The aircraft was carrying 18 passengers and three crew members. All passengers were New Zealand citizens except for a single United States citizen. The flight attendant and three passengers died as a result of the crash.

See also

• List of defunct airlines of New Zealand
• History of aviation in New Zealand