Air Nelson takes Delivery of new Saab Aircraft

This weekend, Air New Zealand's fully owned subsidiary airline, Air Nelson, welcomes a new 33 seat Saab aircraft to its fleet bringing the total number to 17 Saab-340A aircraft.

The aircraft will arrive in Nelson after a delivery flight from Visby, Sweden, with stopovers at Cairo, Muscat, Columbo, Cocos Island, Port Hedland W.A and Sydney, and will enter service on Air Nelson's regional New Zealand network during January 2004.

Air Nelson general manager John Hambleton said the airline welcomed the additional capacity the aircraft would provide.

"Our service and passenger numbers have risen substantially over the past year largely as a result of the reduced cost of air travel under Express Class. Air Nelson implemented a new timetable last month with a 12% increase in the number of services offered.

"Having an extra aircraft will enable us to provide further additional flights during seasonal peaks and be additional back up during periods of planned heavy maintenance of our aircraft," he said.

Air Nelson has said it will be recruiting an additional seven pilots and four cabin crew which will grow its Napier base to 24 pilots and 12 cabin crew.

The aircraft will be operated under a leasing arrangement from Skyways Aviation through its sister company in Sweden, Skyways Express.