Sounds Air
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| Founded | 1986 | ||||||
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| Hubs | Wellington International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 10 | ||||||
| Destinations | 10 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Picton, New Zealand | ||||||
| Key people | Cliff Marchant (Director/Owner), Andrew Crawford (Managing Director/Owner), Steve Handyside (Director/Owner) | ||||||
| Website | Sounds Air | ||||||
Sounds Air is a New Zealand airline based at Picton. The airline was founded in 1986 by Cliff and Diane Marchant with a vision to provide low cost flights to the Marlborough Sounds. The airline has a maintenance facility at the Omaka Airfield, Blenheim with its Sounds Aero Maintenance division based there.
From a single Cessna Caravan operating one route across the Cook Straight, Sounds Air has grown in 30 years; the airline carried 78,000 passengers in 2015, compared to 14,000 passengers in 2003. In 2008 the airline set up its own maintenance division as the airline could not find a company suitable to maintain its fleet.
Sounds Air operates scheduled flights between Wellington and Picton, Nelson, Blenheim, Taupo and Westport. Scheduled flights are also available between Blenheim and Christchurch , Napier and Paraparaumu. Nelson also has flights to Paraparaumu. Sounds Air formerly served Kaikoura and Wanganui from Wellington and Kapiti Coast from Picton. A service to Masterton was being considered from Wellington, however no such service eventuated, because the town wanted the link to Auckland reinstated instead. In addition to scheduled flights Sounds Air offers scenic flights over the Marlborough Sounds and Abel Tasman National Park. The airline started temporary services to Kaikoura from both Christchurch and Blenheim on the 21st November 2016 as a result of the Kaikoura Earthquake. The Kaikoura to Christchurch flights were cancelled from the 27th of January 2017.
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Wikipedia