Wings clipped
Airline to close as Covid reduces business by 85%
Ascenic flight company more than three decades old is shutting down as ongoing effects of Covid-19 border closures prove too tough. Mountain Air Volcanic Flights, which operates out of Ruapehu, announced its decision to close this week.
According to its website, Mountain Air was established as a scenic flight operation in 1988.
It is based at the Chateau Airfield on the edge of Tongariro National Park and has been owned by Bhrent and Kathy Guy since 2007.
Bhrent Guy said closing the business was an “incredibly difficult” decision to make but “once we made it I saw the sense of it”.
“When you’ve invested so much into a business – time, effort, money – you want to keep it going.”
Guy estimates business has been down about 85 per cent.
“It’s been a very tough year. We survived last March with the wage subsidy and we’ve survived with subsidies since. Had it not been for that we wouldn’t have got through.
“I’m on a half salary, the pilot is on 80 per cent. We had to refinance against personal property but our income is down by about 85 per cent.”
The business had already had to let one pilot go as international tourists made up 90 per cent of the business’s income before Covid.
Guy acknowledged Kiwis had taken up the call to travel postlockdown but said that only lasted about two months before income continued to steadily reduce.
“We were holding out hope for a transtasman bubble. That has kept us going longer than we should have.
“We might have survived had it opened in January because 25 per cent of our clients were Australian . . . We can’t hold out hope any more.”
He said they weren’t able to “pivot”
or offer large discounts because the cost of fuel, maintenance and compliance was still there.
He couldn’t see another scenic flight operator setting up in the area. “It’s [a] big blow, in some respects.” Mountain Air has two small planes and offers flights around Tongariro National Park as well as private charters and inter-airport scenic flights. Guy said the two planes had been sold.
Ruapehu District Business Council chairwoman Andrea Messenger said Mountain Air was among the first of the local businesses to close and attributed that to a strong reliance on tourists in summer and winter.
“We’re smack in the middle of the North Island.
“We’ve got the best one-day hike in New Zealand, so why wouldn’t a New Zealander come here to experience it?
Messenger said some businesses were only operating on weekends but most had survived.
It was sad to see Mountain Air close as it had been part of the region for a long time, she said.
“This is a pioneer of our region who set up tourism in its early stages. It’s sad to see it’s come to the end of its life.”
Ruapehu District Mayor Don Cameron agreed local tourism businesses had been faring better than expected as the area relied on overseas tourists for roughly 10 to 15 per cent of its business.
But he said smaller “low cost, low input” businesses were “holding their head above water” better than larger, high-value businesses with higher costs.
“We’re situated between Wellington and Auckland so we’re still getting traffic coming through but people are spending a little less every time.
“Some businesses are really suffering at the moment.”
Cameron said few local businesses had closed and the council offered support and mentoring for small businesses.
Looking ahead to winter, Cameron was hopeful the winter ski season would be good, provided there was not another community Covid outbreak.
“It’s meant to be a good snow year so as long as we’re not in lockdown it should be a good year as far as winter goes.”
He said local councils, including in Taupo¯ and Rotorua, were working together to help each other and were hopeful a transtasman travel bubble would open.
“It’s really difficult for everyone. We do all really feel for Rotorua as it’s far more reliant on overseas tourists, even more than Taupo¯.”
When you’ve invested so
much into a business – time, effort, money – you
want to keep it going.
Bhrent Guy