By Lee Scanlon of 
Originair won't guarantee its Westport-Wellington service will continue beyond mid-May. Photo: Supplied / Originair
Westport may lose its air service.
Originair won't guarantee its Westport-Wellington service will continue beyond mid-May - less than 18 months after it began.
The Westport News revealed on Tuesday that Buller Mayor Chris Russell had emailed local businesses last November, seeking financial support for the airline.
Without that support, Originair would pull out on January 31 - last Saturday, Russell's email said.
Responding by email today to questions from The News, Originair's chief financial officer Warren Kitchin offered no guarantees Originair would stay on.
"We will continue to operate the service until mid-May and monitor travel demand and support options in the meantime," Kitchin said.
He would not say whether any local businesses had heeded the mayor's call for financial support.
Kitchin confirmed Originair had received no external funding from the Buller District Council (BDC) or from Development West Coast.
He said the airline's application to the Government's Regional Investment Fund (RIF), for essential air service support under the Regional Airline Connectivity Support Package, looked unlikely to succeed.
Russell's email said an Originair RIF application was declined last October.
Kitchin said Originair was a commercial enterprise. It was unreasonable for the airline's shareholders to support the service long-term when the key community beneficiaries were businesses, leisure travellers, tourists and people needing to access essential public healthcare services in Wellington.
"We have received requests for an increase in flight frequency. This will be not possible until passenger demand increases in a consistent manner," his email said.
Kitchin said Originair had had extensive previous experience operating West Coast services. It knew the business challenges it might encounter in starting the Westport service, especially in challenging economic times nationwide.
"We appreciated that shareholder financial support may initially be required for the route - especially during periods of weak demand."
Originair took over the service in January last year, when Sounds Air pulled out after nine years saying it could not sustain the losses.
Originair provided bigger planes - 18 seaters compared to Sounds Air's nine seaters - but fewer flights. Its timetable meant passengers were no longer able to make a same-day return trip between Westport and Wellington.
Originair is currently flying between Westport and Wellington on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However, there are no Sunday flights scheduled after this weekend. One-way seat prices range from $299 to $409.
Russell's email claimed the council was already subsidising the route. He said ratepayers could not absorb further costs.
Former Buller mayor Jamie Cleine said there had been no subsidy.
"The only thing I can think he's referring to is the fact we sustain a loss on the airport every year. Which I guess you could say is a cost that we incur… it's not a subsidy. Absolutely, categorically, there has never been any subsidy per seat or anything like that ever paid to Originair, that I'm aware of."
- Westport News
