Aspiring Air is an airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

 based in Wanaka

Wanaka

Wanaka is a town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, adjacent to the outflow of the lake to the Clutha River. It is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is primarily a resort town but has both summer and winter...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. It operates charter pleasure flights around New Zealand's Southern Alps

Southern Alps

The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...

 and scheduled services three times daily to Queenstown

Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....

, connecting with Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand Limited is the national airline and flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 26 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and is...

. Its main base is Wanaka Airport

Wanaka Airport

Wanaka Airport is the airport servicing the town of Wanaka, Otago, New Zealand and the surrounding ski fields. It is also the host of the biennial Warbirds over Wanaka air show and serves as a base for sightseeing flights to Milford Sound and Mount Aspiring National Park...

.

History

The airline was established in 1974, is wholly owned by Barrie McHaffie (Managing Director) and has 8 employees

Destinations

Aspiring Air operates scheduled services between Wanaka

Wanaka

Wanaka is a town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, adjacent to the outflow of the lake to the Clutha River. It is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park. Wanaka is primarily a resort town but has both summer and winter...

 and Queenstown

Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....

 (at March 2007). Pickups at Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

 and Invercargill

Invercargill

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...

 are available with prior arrangements.

Fleet

The Aspiring Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (at March 2007) :

• 2 Britten-Norman BN2A Islander
  Britten-Norman Islander
  The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a 1960s British light utility aircraft, regional airliner and cargo aircraft designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. The Islander is one of the best-selling commercial aircraft types produced in Europe. Although designed in...
  
  
• 1 Piper Archer II

Incidents and accidents

• 8 August 1989: Nine passengers and the pilot died when the Britten-Norman Islander they were in crashed into terrain in the Upper Dart Valley
  Dart River, New Zealand
  The Dart River, Te Awa Wakatipu in Māori language, flows through rugged forested country in the southwestern South Island of New Zealand. Partly in Mount Aspiring National Park, it flows south-west and then south for from its headwaters in the Southern Alps and the Dart Glacier, eventually flowing...
  
  .