Barrier Air

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Barrier Air
Barrier logo.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
GBA[1] BARRIER[1]
Founded1983
Fleet size4
Destinations5
HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
Websitehttp://www.barrierair.kiwi
Former aircraft of the airline at the Claris Aerodrome in June 2008.

Barrier Air is a New Zealand airline that was established in 1983 by Jim Bergman as Great Barrier Airlines. The head office is located at the Domestic Terminal at Auckland Airport in Mangere, with additional offices in the terminal buildings at Great Barrier Aerodrome, Kaitaia Airport and North Shore Aerodrome.[2]

History[]

The airline's initial fleet was one Cessna 172, one Cessna 206 and a vintage DHA-3 Australian three engine Drover. Bergman flew the first scheduled service to Great Barrier Island on 2 December 1983,[3] departing from Ardmore Airport, an airport three nautical miles southeast of Manurewa in Auckland. The company initially operated 3 flights a day via Auckland International onto Great Barrier Aerodrome at Claris. In July 1984 the airline started flights to Okiwi Airfield on Great Barrier Island as well. The first Britten Norman Islander was introduced in December 1984.

The first flights to Whangarei from its Auckland base began in August 1987. The airline briefly served Waiheke island from August 1994 to April 1995. They also purchased a subsidiary company, Air Coromandel, in 1995, which had sole commercial rights to Whitianga. In November 1996 Rotorua (served via Tauranga) and Paihia were added to the network. The Rotorua flight was extended to Taupo in November 1998. A new aircraft type was added, the Britten Norman Trislander starting services on 24 December 2002. Since then three other Trislanders have served in the fleet.[4] In early 2015, coinciding with a change in management, and the purchase of an ex-Bering Air Cessna Grand Caravan, the name of the airline was changed from Great Barrier Airlines to Barrier Air.[5] The airline now operates a fleet of Grand Caravans - all other aircraft have been retired.[6]

For more than two decades, it was in a long-running commercial battle with its main local competitor Fly My Sky, until the latter went into liquidation in 2021.[7] Fly My Sky descended from the Great Barrier division of Mountain Air, and operated at various times under the names Great Barrier Xpress and Great Barrier Air, the latter name being subsequently forbidden by a legal injunction as it was too similar to Great Barrier Airlines, the name of what is now Barrier Air. The competition between the two airlines is considered one of the main reasons for the relatively low flight prices, which as of January 2008 remained almost exactly at 1998 prices, despite a trebling of aviation fuel prices in the nine years of competition between the two airlines.[3]

Barrier Air returned to Whitianga on December 15 2021 with a Cessna Grand Caravan.[8] On the 22nd December Barrier Air announced plans to purchase a 5th Cessna Grand Caravan Airplane and look at launching new routes such as Auckland to Tauranga following the success for the new Whitianga to Auckland route.

Current destinations[]

As of December 2021, Barrier Air operate the following routes:

From Auckland

From Claris, Great Barrier Island (Great Barrier Aerodrome)

From Kaitaia

From Whitianga

Terminated destinations[]

Fleet[]

As of October 2021, Barrier Air's fleet consists of the following aircraft:[6]

Barrier Air fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
Cessna 208B Caravan 4 — 13 Registrations: ZK-SDB, ZK-SDC, ZK-SDD, ZK-SDE[9][10]
Total 4 — —

Barrier Air (and its predecessor Great Barrier Airlines) formerly operated the following aircraft:[4][11]

Barrier Air former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Beechcraft 76 Duchess 1
Britten-Norman Islander 11 1984 2018 2 leased
Britten-Norman Trislander 4 2002 2014
Cessna 172 4 1983
Cessna 206 1 1984
Cessna 402 1
Cessna 421 1
De Havilland DHA-3 1 1984
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 2 1994 1 leased from Air Fiji
Embraer EMB-820C 1 1994
GAF N24 Nomad 1 2000
Partenavia P.68 4 1995 2017
Piper PA-23 Aztec 3 1985 1 leased
Piper PA-28 Archer 1
Piper PA-31 Navajo 3 2016
Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six 4 1984 2012 Two leased from Auckland Aero Club

References[]

  1. ^ a b Not an ICAO allocation - issued for domestic use by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand: http://www.caa.govt.nz/airlines/Call_signs.pdf Archived 18 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Contact Us". Great Barrier Airlines. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2011."Physical: Air New Zealand Domestic Terminal Auckland International Airport (Eastern End)" and "Terminal Building North Shore Aerodrome Dairy Flat"
  3. ^ a b Thompson, Wayne (5 January 2008). "Rival airlines turn up tit-for-tat heat". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b Lowe, Steve (17 May 2015). "The Barrier Connection - Great Barrier Airlines". 3rd Level New Zealand. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  5. ^ "[1]." Barrier Air. Retrieved on 4 August 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Fleet". Barrier Air. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  7. ^ Anthony, John (30 June 2021). "Company behind Auckland airline Fly My Sky in liquidation". Stuff. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  8. ^ http://theinformer.co.nz/detail.aspx?cid=3591
  9. ^ "Third Caravan". 3rd Level NZ. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Fourth Caravan for Barrier". Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  11. ^ Lowe, Steve (16 August 2015). "Barrier Air - The new name to the Barrier and Kaitaia". 3rd Level New Zealand. Retrieved 12 October 2021.

External links[]


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