Rugby: Wanganui all aboard with Air Chathams

The Wanganui Heartland rugby team boarding their Air Chathams flight direct to the West Coast this afternoon.

Steelform Wanganui were looking forward to having fresh legs when they touched down on the South Island's West Coast this afternoon.

Air Chathams general manager Duane Emeny was one of the pilots and his staff were all decked out in Wanganui jerseys to honour the airline's inaugural flight as the official carrier of Wanganui's Mitre 10 Heartland Championship squad.

Being able to fly directly to Heartland rugby towns, or their nearest airport, will remove much of the long haul the squad previously had to undertake, not to mention cost savings on team buses and added nights in motels.

This is especially welcome news for South Island away games, when previously the side would have to travel to Palmerston North Airport before flying to Christchurch Airport, only to get on another bus for the journey to Ashburton and Timaru, or flying into Dunedin for a drive up to Oamaru.

The West Coast trips could be even more gruelling, sometimes landing in Christchurch and busing nearly four hours through Arthur's Pass, or like 2014 when Wanganui landed at Hokitika Airport for an over two hour bus ride back up the Coast to play Buller in Westport, just so official carrier Air New Zealand could save on a chartered plane by simultaneously picking up the Coasters for an away match.

WRFU chief executive Bridget Belsham worked diligently to convince New Zealand Rugby to let her union change from using official carrier Air New Zealand to taking on Air Chathams for chartered flights.

Last year when the Heartland Championship draw was altered at the last minute, forcing Wanganui to play South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury in back-to-back games in Timaru and Ashburton, Belsham was able to get NZR permission to let Wanganui use Air Chathams as a one-off charter directly to Timaru, due to the added unbudgeted costs.

Encouraged by that, the former Westpac business manager then brought a proposal of savings to NZR for this year, showing what could be saved if they stuck with Air Chathams permanently.

"I went to Duane and said, 'that's what we want' and they came on board with it." said Belsham before 1pm boarding today.

Air Chathams general manager Duane Emeny.

Shrewdly, Belsham pointed out to NZR it was difficult to calculate a similar cost/benefit proposal for Air New Zealand, given the airline had pulled out of Whanganui in 2016.

Yesterday's flight took the Wanganui squad from Whanganui Airport directly to Hokitika Airport, which is just half an hour by bus to Greymouth.

The match tomorrow afternoon at the recently renamed John Sturgeon Park will have an earlier kickoff time of 2pm, allowing Wanganui to travel back to Hokitika for the flight home in the evening.

Not among them will be No 8 Tremaine Gilbert, who did not pass Thursday evening's fitness test and has been replaced by reserve Angus Middleton, with Jackson Campbell joining the bench.

Wanganui coach Jason Caskey said Gilbert, who has a lower grade ankle injury, was able to run straight, but found side-to-side movement caused him discomfort, so it was too risky to field the veteran.

Angus Middleton, front, lines up to lead Wanganui onto their Air Chathams flight. Middleton will start at No 8 in Greymouth with Tremaine Gilbert injured.