An Air New Zealand ATR Turboprop at New Plymouth Airport. Photo / Simon Kenny
Simon Kenny flies aboard NZ5050, from New Plymouth to Auckland.
The plane: An Aerospatiale ATR72-500 Turboprop. There are 26 ATRs in the Air New Zealand fleet, and another 12 on order.
Class: Economy (of course).
Price: I paid $223. Booked late and needed a flexible fare.
Flight time: Says 45 minutes, but was more like 35.
My seat: 14C. Can never remember if you get in the front or back of these planes, so hedged my bets and went for a seat in the middle.
Fellow passengers: Mostly like me from the look of it, and heading back to Auckland after a work day in New Plymouth.
How full: Filled to the brim. There are 68 seats on board.
Entertainment: I read the Kia Ora magazine on the way down so it was Wordscapes, Solitaire and FreeCell on the phone.
The service: Rapid — handing out the lollies for landing almost as soon as the seatbelt sign went off.
Food and drink: "Would you like a cookie with your water?"
The toilets: I assume there is one somewhere.
Luggage: I heard them say the Fast Bag service wasn't available for the Wellington flight leaving just after us due to "local conditions". Stink for them.
The airport experience: I hadn't been to New Plymouth since the new Koru Lounge opened, so that was a nice surprise. After a day showing beef farmers a processing plant where Macca's gets its patties made and letting them loose in the kitchen at a restaurant, a cold Pilsner hit the spot.
The bottomline: Timing was perfect as we walked over to the plane to snap a shot of a beautiful Taranaki sunset. Between the airport lounge, flight and car ready when I landed it was a totally stress-free and easy way to end the day.
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