Crusade for flights finally pays off

Simon Nixon

For 10 years Hastings District Councillor Simon Nixon has championed airline competition for the region.

With a background in the aviation industry, it is a fight that has seen him crunch passenger numbers and flight costs, run for mayor against Lawrence Yule and then stand for council in 2010 - just to keep the issue in the public arena.

"I think it is very exciting, really exciting," he said of the Jetstar announcement.

"We have heard so much about Hawke's Bay's low par economic performance for such a long time and I think this is capable of creating quite a major turn around."

So why the decision to campaign on the issue in the first place?

"I have thought for a very long time that Air New Zealand fares are extraordinarily high," said Mr Nixon.

"I have been comparing our fares on a continuous basis with places like Queenstown and Dunedin to Auckland and generally it has been possible to fly to Queenstown or Dunedin for less than it has cost Hawke's Bay - both of which have similar levels of traffic to Auckland as us. And yet it's three times further."

He said his estimation is that the flights here should cost about half of what it cost to fly to the two southern ports he mentioned.

"That has had to have a big impact on every aspect of the Hawke's Bay economy and Hawke's Bay life," said Mr Nixon.

"So based on those comparisons I just felt we were being totally over charged."

Ten years is a long time for anyone to focus on a single issue, but it was Mr Nixon's determination that kept him in play.

"I was so convinced that it had to happen I was prepared to just keep going," he said.

"I guess what I did I certainly kept it in front of the council. Probably my biggest impact was moulding public opinion towards accepting the need that we had to have better services."

While the campaign may have started to get flights from the Bay to Australia, Mr Nixon said over time he started to realise that the region needed to get better domestic services, particularly to Auckland.

"We switched the emphasis along the way," he said.

Following this week's news, the councillor predicts one of two things will now happen.

"Air New Zealand will react by suddenly starting to fly jets in here when they always said they wouldn't," he said.

"Or the other possibility is we will start to see some serious interest in direct flights to Australia even though Air New Zealand has said for 10 years they would not entertain it."

With Jetstar now placing air travel within reach for many more Kiwis, Mr Nixon said Hawke's Bay is going to seem so much more exciting.

"I just think this place will suddenly seem alive and the remoteness we have suffered from for so long will diminish," he said.

"It is mind boggling the options are just unlimited. Competition is a wonderful thing."