The domestic aviation market in New Zealand is mainly served by turboprop aircraft, enabling enhanced connectivity between different cities across the country and the transport of cargo to cities where bigger aircraft cannot land. Air New Zealand is the leading airline, having strengthened its domestic operations following the acquisition of several airlines in the country since the last century, many of them operating turboprop aircraft. Currently, other airlines such as Air Chathams and Originair also operate turboprops, and this is their story.

Air Nelson

Air Nelson was a New Zealand regional airline founded in 1979, which operated mainly with Cessna, Metro 23, Piper, Fokker 27, Saab 340, and Dash 8 aircraft. Its main bases were Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington, operating domestic flights throughout the country.

Air New Zealand Link

Seven years later, Air New Zealand acquired 50% of Air Nelson, becoming Air New Zealand Link in 1988, and acquiring 100% in 1995. Air Nelson was an important operator of Saab 340 aircraft in Oceania, but these were replaced by modern Dash 8s starting in 2005, making it the main airline of these aircraft outside Canada in the past decade.

Air Nelson announced that it would cease operations on November 19th, 2019 following its merger with Air New Zealand. However, almost six years later, Air Nelson still had 100 employees, who continue to work for Air New Zealand. Finally, on May 19th, 2025, Air Nelson officially came to an end, as the remaining employees were transferred to Air New Zealand, bringing a nearly 45-year history to a close.

Metro, Saab 340, ATR and Dash

For its part, the first ATR was incorporated by Air New Zealand in September 1995, being a new ATR 72. The aircraft, with registration ZK-MCC, arrived in Auckland from Toulouse, and began operations shortly thereafter. 

Air New Zealand had 43 ATR 72 in its fleet between September 1995 and November 2019, joining Air Nelson’s Dash 8 operations. These 43 ATR 72 were operated by Mount Cook Airline, another airline that had been acquired by Air New Zealand, ceasing operations on December 9th, 2019, after merging.

At the time of publication, as you can see through our database, Air New Zealand operates around 30 ATR 72-600s, all of which have 68 seats in single class. The oldest ATR 72, registered as ZK-MVA, is almost 13 years old, while the newest ATR 72, with registration ZK-MZG, is six months old. 

The first ATR 72 incorporated by Air New Zealand, rather than one of its acquired airlines, was registered as ZK-MZC and arrived in Christchurch on December 22nd, 2019, following a six-day ferry flight. This aircraft covered the route Toulouse (TLS/LFBO) – Heraklion (HER/LGIR) – Riyadh (RUH/OERK) – Muscat (MCT/OOMS) – Nagpur (NAG/VANP) – Penang (PEN/WMKP) – Denpasar (DPS/WADD) – Darwin (DRW/YPDN) – Brisbane (BNE/YBBN) – Christchurch (CHC/NZCH).

As for the next ATR 72s acquired by Air New Zealand, the ZK-MZD, ZK-MZE, ZK-MZF, ZK-MZG, and ZK-MZH, they flew similar routes for their delivery flights to New Zealand. Of these, the ZK-MZG also departed from Toulouse to Christchurch, but made other stops in India and Malaysia.

+50 turboprops

In addition to the ATR 72s, Air New Zealand has 23 Dash 8s in its fleet, having added the first one on November 19th, 2019.

As with most of its ATRs, all De Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 aircraft were added by Air New Zealand following the acquisition of Air Nelson. The oldest, with registration ZK-NEA, was introduced by Air Nelson in July 2005, while the newest is ZK-NFI, acquired by Air Nelson in June 2009. 

Air New Zealand has 31 ATR 72-600s and 23 Dash 8-300s in its fleet, totaling 54 aircraft for its short-haul routes, which makes it the leading turboprop operator in New Zealand.

Routes

Air Chathams

Air Chathams is a New Zealand airline established in 1984, being the first airline on Chatham Island, which later became the first airline to operate between the island and mainland New Zealand airports.

The first operations were carried out by a Cessna Super Skymaster, transporting live crayfish from Pitt Island to Chatham Island, and then adding the Chatham Island-Gisborne route. Its main and almost sole service was the cargo market, but it also offered passenger transport on its aircraft through charter flights.

New flights

In 1991, Air Chathams began regular passenger flights from/to Chatham Island, reaching another historic milestone by launching its first route between Chatham and mainland New Zealand: Chatham Island – Christchurch.

New Zealand’s second-largest airport joined the Air Chathams network, of which it remains today, flying the same route it did 35 years ago. According to our database, it currently operates one to three flights per week with ATR 72-500 and Saab 340 aircraft.

After arriving in mainland New Zealand, the airline further expanded its operations, opening a second base in Auckland, where it runs routes and has some planes based, in addition to those on Chatham Island.

Air Chathams’ current fleet consists of turboprops, including ATR 72-500, Saab 340A, and Saab 340B aircraft, which operate from their base on Chatham Island, as well as in Auckland and other New Zealand cities. Based on our database, all of the airline’s operations are focused on New Zealand, both the mainland and Chatham Island.

With regard to the historical fleet, besides the Cessna Super Skymaster, the airline operated Convair 580, Fairchild Metro III, and Douglas DC-3 aircraft, which were retired in 2021, 2024, and 2025, respectively.

Routes

Originair

In 1979, Robert Inglis introduced the New Zealand airline Air Nelson, which was acquired in its entirety by Air New Zealand in 1995, as we saw above. Once the acquisition by Air New Zealand was concluded, Robert, along with Nicki Smith, founded another airline in the country called Origin Pacific Airways, that operated between 1997 and 2006 with turboprop aircraft, including ATR 72, British Aerospace Jetstream 31, Jetstream 32, Jetstream 41, and Dash 8.

As with Air Nelson, this airline was based in Nelson, a city located in the north of New Zealand’s South Island. It has a population of around 55,000 and is located just 190 kilometers from Wellington, the country’s capital, separated by Cook Strait.

Following the collapse of Origin Pacific Airways, which was due to the termination of its codeshare agreement with Jetconnect, the New Zealand subsidiary of Qantas, Robert Inglis and Nicki Smith launched Originair, another New Zealand airline based at Nelson Airport, which is currently in operation, with some aircraft formerly belonging to Origin Pacific Airways.

Originair was founded in March 2015 and commenced operations on August 12th of that year with a fleet of Jetstream 31 aircraft configured for 18 passengers. Its first route was Nelson-Palmerston North, followed by its second service, Nelson-Wellington. Both routes continue to be operated by Originair.

Routes

Turboprops in New Zealand

Air New Zealand, Air Chathams, and Originair are the only New Zealand airlines to operate turboprop aircraft, with a predominance of ATRs, as this type of aircraft is used by two of the three airlines. Dash 8 and Saab 340 aircraft were previously conducted by other airlines, but currently only Air New Zealand and Air Chathams operate these types of aircraft, respectively. Originair retains some Jetstream aircraft from its predecessor, Origin Pacific Airways.

The main operator is Air New Zealand, with 33 scheduled routes and around 925 weekly flights, while Air Chathams offers six services, three from each base, reaching 46 weekly scheduled flights without taking into account charter flights or other services operated. Originair performs approximately 35 flights a week through eight routes.

Featured photo: © Cody Forward – JetPhotos (Nelson, New Zealand)