Jet leaves, mystery remains

The Beijing-based Boeing 737-700 business jet flying out of Hawke's Bay Airport on Friday. Photo / Paul Taylor

Details of a large private Chinese jet's stop-over in Hawke's Bay last week remain a mystery - but the plane's visit has reignited questions about the potential for direct international flights out of the region.

The luxury Boeing 737-700, registered to Beijing charter company Deer Jet, touched down at Hawke's Bay Airport on Wednesday from Beijing via Hong Kong and Auckland. It flew out for Queenstown on Friday.

According to Deer Jet's website, the Boeing business jet can accommodate up to 18 passengers and features a separate bedroom and meeting room, as well as a "spacious bar".

It is believed the jet's dozen or so passengers were in the Bay on a low-key but expensive golf outing rather than to do business.

Neither Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule nor Napier Mayor Bill Dalton had any knowledge of who was on the plane.

A staff member at Cape Kidnappers golf club said a large group of visitors played the course and stayed at the facility's luxury lodge on the nights in question - but he was unaware how they had arrived in Hawke's Bay.

The Boeing's presence at the airport sparked questions on social media about why Hawke's Bay did not host international commercial flights, given it was capable of accommodating a plane that could be configured to carry up to 149 passengers.

Commercial transtasman flights into and out of Hawke's Bay Airport were ruled out last year after a study found they were not financially viable.

The study backed up previous research showing carriers were not interested in running international services from the Bay because they did not believe they would generate sufficient passenger demand.

The closest the region will come to welcoming a commercial international flight in the foreseeable future could be July's one-off McLean Park NRL match between the Melbourne Storm and Sydney's St George Illawarra Dragons.

Mr Dalton said yesterday negotiations were ongoing over the possibility of bringing a charter flight of Storm fans direct from Melbourne to Hawke's Bay.

But while larger planes are able to fly into the Bay, the short runway restricts them from flying out again with a full complement of passengers and full fuel tanks. The solution for Storm fans would be to take on enough fuel for a stop-off in Auckland before refuelling there for the trip to Australia.