EVENTS/NEWS The airline that brings New Zealand together.

Events

AUCKLAND

Auckland Diwali Festival 2021

Saturday, 30 – Sunday, 31 October Aotea Square & Queen Street, Auckland

Experience and celebrate traditional and contemporary Indian culture at this hugely popular and free, family friendly festival featuring bright lights, energetic dance performances, Indian delicacies and a spectacular fireworks display on the Sunday night.

WHANGANUI

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Whanganui Opera House

Friday, 17 September – Saturday, 25 September Tickets: Royal Whanganui Opera House Booking Office AMDRAM Theatre brings you Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera - The longest-running musical in Broadway history. Based on the classic novel by Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a masked figure who lurks in the catacombs beneath the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it before falling in love with an innocent young soprano and devoting himself to creating a new star by employing all of the devious methods at his command. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s mesmerising score brings this tragic love story to life, and Air Chathams is proud to sponsor this event which is part of the Whanganui Heritage Month.

Whanganui Literary Festival

Friday, 8 - Sunday, 10 October www.writersfest.co.nz

The Whanganui Literary Festival, a biennial weekend event for readers, writers and lovers of literature, sees nine different authors visiting Whanganui over the weekend of 8 - 10 October to share and celebrate literature and the world of words. This is a wonderful boutique style event that is well supported by the community and well worth a visit; check out their website - www. writersfest.co.nz - for all the details or find the festival on Facebook at WhanganuiLiteraryFestival.

WHAKATĀNE

Julians Berry Farm and Cafe Toi’s Challenge

Sunday, 14 November, Whakatāne www.wahc.co.nz

One of Whakatāne’s iconic annual events is a multi-terrain 18km loop on the beautiful coastal Ngā Tapuwae o Toi track, organised by the Whakatāne Athletic and Harrier Club.

Toi’s Challenge 18km course follows the ‘Ngā Tapuwai o Toi’ track, named after the Māori chief Toi who ruled the area some 800 years ago. The trail twists up and down steep coastal hills and along two beautiful beaches, through stunning bush, up and down hundreds of steps, eased by stunning views of the sparkling Pacific Ocean and distant islands. A real challenge - and a real beauty to behold.

NORFOLK ISLAND

Taste of Norfolk Island Food Festival

Monday, 22 November – Thursday, 25 November TASTE Norfolk Island Food festival is an annual event showcasing the best of talented local chefs, cooks, eateries, artisans and primary producers in a host of stunning settings. The festival includes Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

KĀPITI COAST

Kāpiti Food Fair

Saturday, 4 December Mazengarb Reserve, Paraparaumu www.kapitifoodfair.co.nz The Kāpiti Food Fair is an iconic annual food and beverage event well known to vendors and visitors alike. Descend on Mazengarb Reserve in Paraparaumu for a day filled with the very best in local produce and vendors, locally manufactured food and beverages and a free kid’s zone. Over 250 vendors will have a range of packaged produce and ready to eat delights alongside roving entertainers and performers.

YEARS CONVAIR

News

Green light for lengthening and strengthening Chatham Islands (Tuuta) Airport runway

The much anticipated upgrade to the Chatham Islands (Tuuta) Airport runway has been approved by the government. The runway will be extended at the western end from 1360m to 1850m, and strengthening will allow up to 30 departures per month. The airport project is part of a wider Chatham Islands Investment Strategy designed to support sustainable growth on the islands, and Air Chathams Chief Operating Officer Duane Emeny says it is great to see it become a reality. “We’ve been working towards the airport upgrade for many years now, and although the process has had its ups and downs, I think that it has also helped to unite the community with a common goal. This funding comes at a crucial time and it will open up a lot of opportunities as well as future proofing the transport infrastructure of the Chatham Islands.”

Farewell to a friend

All good things must come to an end, and sadly that extends to our trusted Convair 580, an aircraft that has played an important role in our airline - and in the lives of many Chatham Islanders and Kiwis in general. We’ve been flying the big Convair turboprops - affectionately known as the ‘muscle cars’ of our skies - on vital passenger and freight services from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch to the Chatham Island group for the past 25 years, and in that time the aircraft has contributed considerably to the local economy, with the delivery of live crayfish and fish to mainland and export markets as well as bringing tourism to the islands. Air Chathams owner and CEO Craig Emeny says the Convair was ideal for this role, offering a great payload and range, as well as speed and performance that allowed it to take off from the Chathams shorter runway with a full load. “The Convair means a lot to me and to us all at Air Chathams, but also to the Chatham Islands as a whole,” Mr Emeny says. “It enabled the Chatham Islands to do so much, particularly through developing the fishing industry and also growing the Islands’ tourism.” Aviation technology has moved on considerably however, and so it’s time for our Convair ZK-CIB to take a much needed retirement. We have so many memories of this great aircraft and we’re sure that many of you do too - if you’d like to share reminiscences or photos of the Convair head on over to our website, we’d love to hear from you!

Air Chathams flies pink!

If you’re flying with us in October you may notice something a little different about our pilots and flight attendants: as part of the Pinktober breast cancer campaign they will all be sporting pink epaulettes and scarves instead of our usual green livery. It’s a great cause and commercial manager Adrian Ali says this is the fifth year Air Chathams crew have donned pink and helped raise awareness and funds. “It’s great to be able to take our support to the skies,” Adrian says, “and we are now a listed supporter with Flypink.net, joining other airlines in this really important cause. We will also be offering passengers the chance to make a donation where all proceeds go to Breast Cancer Foundation New Zealand. Arnott’s, who supply our inflight Timtams, have also come to the party with some special strawberry flavoured treats, which is fantastic.

Domestic tourism key driver for economic growth in Whakatāne District

Domestic tourism is one of the key contributors to the Whakatāne District, being one of the fastest growing local economies in New Zealand, according to Infometrics’ quarterly monitor released recently. Up 3.2% across all sectors on the same period last year, Whakatāne’s economic growth was helped significantly by tourism expenditure growing 3.8% for the first quarter of 2021, with $3million more spent during the period compared to 2020. MarketView visitor spend supplied to Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) also shows the Whakatāne District towards the top of the field for annual domestic visitor spend. For the year-end March 2021, the Whakatāne District achieved 6.6% growth, placing Whakatāne third out of 36 regions in New Zealand for annual visitor spend growth. According to Mayor Judy Turner, the Whakatāne District has shown remarkable resilience and confidence is high after the challenges of the past eighteen months. “More people are visiting and moving to the Sunshine Capital of New Zealand,” she says. “As a result of the confidence felt across the region, economic activity is significantly outpacing the rest of the Bay of Plenty, and this is particularly evident in the District’s tourism sector where annual visitor spend has increased ahead of expectations and is one of the strongest growth rates in New Zealand.”