Mt Cook flight popular

Aoraki Mt Cook put on stunning blue skies for Air New Zealand passengers on the first scenic flight from Christchurch to Mt Cook on Sunday.

About 60 passengers were treated to the first Air NZ commercial flight into the newly refurbished Mt Cook airfield since the service was stopped 15 years ago. Failing demand and more pressing need for aircraft in other parts of the country had caused it to close.

The flight was fairly full, with 57 passengers taking the Christchurch-to-Mt Cook leg of the trip on a 68-seat ATR-72 plane.

It flew on to Queenstown before returning to Christchurch via Mt Cook later in the day.

The Hermitage Aoraki Mount Cook hotel general manager Nigel Harper said the weather was ‘‘brilliant’’ and the passengers had a good view of the mountains.

The hotel owned the airfield and had spent $50,000 to bring it back up to scratch for commercial flights and had organised a bus from the airfield to the hotel.

Most of the passengers appeared to be Kiwis, he said, with some stopping for lunch at the hotel before catching the return trip back to Christchurch in the afternoon.

An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the flight was aimed at tourists and offered a convenient way of seeing several popular South Island visitor destinations.

The service would run three times a week until January 27.