A Dunedin to Queenstown air link looks set to be scaled back after just taking off, despite being a big hit with those who turned up for its inaugural flight today.
Kiwi Regional Airlines (KRA) chief executive Ewan Wilson said shortly after the flight landed in Queenstown what was to have been a daily service may be scaled back to Fridays and Mondays.
Mr Wilson said while three months of marketing had got good results for routes to Nelson and Hamilton, it appeared there was ''an over-supply of capacity'' for the Dunedin to Queenstown route.
Mr Wilson, a former Dunedin man and now a Hamilton city councillor, was behind Kiwi Air, which collapsed in 1996 after intense competition.
His latest venture targets regional routes not served by other airlines.
The inaugural flight to Queenstown was delayed by low cloud in the resort, something that did not seem to bother passengers, who were in a festive mood.
Earlier story
Hatchling airline Kiwi Regional Air has had a slightly bumpy start to commercial operation.
The company's 34-seater SAAB aircraft was late taking off from Dunedin and had to circle over Alexandra while scheduled Air New Zealand flights landed in Queenstown.
The Kiwi Air flight finally dotted down more than an hour late.
The first passenger off the plane, Jon-Paul Jordan, of Dunedin, described the flight as brilliant.
"A bit of a long journey here but it was all worth it - a beautiful view on the way in, too."
Mr Jordan, a private banking manager for ASB Bank, was working in Queenstown for the day.
Kiwi Regional Air - which got CAA approval last week - is the brainchild of Ewan Wilson, the Hamilton city councillor who was behind cut-price airline Kiwi Air which went bust in 1996.
Mr Wilson was on the flight. In the Queenstown Airport terminal he said he was proud.
"There were 19 paying passengers today. You often get on the inaugural flight and it's all company staff and media.
"But today, actually, it was predominantly paying passengers and they were as excited and proud of being involved in something new and innovative."
