Air Chathams continues Norfolk Island service despite curb

Newly relaunched Air Chathams flights between New Zealand and Norfolk Island, a tiny Australian external territory in the South Pacific Ocean, have been unaffected by a new pause in the trans-Tasman travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia.

This has been confirmed by the airline’s chief operating officer, Duane Emeny, to ch-aviation following a new travel curb between New South Wales (NSW) and New Zealand implemented on June 23. The moratorium was extended on June 24 for another 12 days after 11 new community-spread cases of COVID-19 were discovered in Sydney.

FlightRadar24 ADS-B data confirmed that Air Chathams’ weekly flights 3C401/402 between Auckland Int’l and Norfolk Island continue uninterrupted, as have Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith)’ flights from Norfolk Island to Sydney Kingsford Smith and Brisbane Int’l. The Air Chathams service is being provided with its sole 37-seater S340B, according to the ch-aviation schedules module.

Air Chathams on June 10 resumed weekly services from Auckland to Norfolk Island, marking the first time that New Zealanders were able to fly directly to the Australian offshore territory in 15 months. The carrier will be flying weekly before upping its services to twice-weekly from August onwards. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, the airline’s fleet also includes two S340A(QC)s and one ATR72-500. It also operates CV-580, Metroliner, Cessna 206, and DC-3 aircraft.

Norfolk Island has been served by Air New Zealand (NZ, Auckland Int’l) since 2012 in terms of an agreement with the Australian government, but the carrier had to suspend its service in February when a COVID-19 outbreak in Auckland resulted in a suspension of the trans-Tasman bubble. Qantas stepped in to provide the islanders with connectivity to the mainland, but Air New Zealand will resume its services to Norfolk Island at the end of August after recently having extended its contract for another two years. As reported, it will establish a temporary pilot and crew base in Brisbane until November 30 to ensure potential disruptions to the trans-Tasman travel bubble will not again affect the continuity of its services to Norfolk Island.