Regional airline Sounds Air has an aircraft on “standby” and could have a new Christchurch to Wanaka route off the ground in six weeks if there’s appetite.

Sounds Air, which regularly flies customers across Cook Strait, launched a survey on Wednesday, gauging public opinion on the new service.

Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford said the business had been considering the route for more than a year, but was prompted to explore the opportunity post-coronavirus lockdown.

“It seems like a natural progression for us. It’s a route that Air New Zealand used to fly, and we do quite a few of those.

Wanaka to Christchurch flights could take off in six weeks [ODT, 24/06/20]

“That whole region is crying out for support, so it seems like a very good time to try to provide some support of connectivity between the regions,” he said.

Sounds Air had spare aircraft capacity and crew, he said.

They launched the survey after discussions with Queenstown Airport, which manages the Wanaka facility.

“They said go away and see what the market looks like,” Crawford said.

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