Origin Pacific Airways was 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 Nelson

Nelson, New Zealand

Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....

 in 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...

 operating freight services. Until 10 August 2006, the airline also operated scheduled and charter passenger services. Its main base was at Nelson Airport

Nelson Airport (New Zealand)

Nelson Airport is an airport in Nelson, New Zealand. Approximately 1.2 million passengers and visitors are said to use the airport terminal annually. Total passenger numbers for the 2011 financial year were 758,250. This represents passenger growth of approximately 11% on the previous...

 (NSN). It ceased all operations on 15 September 2006

Starting out

Origin Pacific Airways was established in 1996 and started operations in April 1997. The airline was owned by Robert Inglis (managing director) and Nicki Smith (50%), Mike Pero (25%) and a group of Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 investors (25%).

Code-share with Qantas Jetconnect

Origin operated code-share flights on behalf of Jetconnect

JetConnect

Jetconnect is an airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a shell company of Qantas. It was established in July 2002 and started operations in October 2002. It operates trans-tasman services between New Zealand and Australia under the Qantas brand. It employs crew based in New Zealand and...

 (a subsidiary of Qantas Airways) from mid 2001 to early 2004. When the code-share agreement was cancelled the airline lost around 60% of its business. Routes served on behalf of Jetconnect included Rotorua and Queenstown. Origin operated ATR-72-212 and Dash 8-100 and 300 aircraft on those routes. Jetconnect took over these routes using their own Boeing 737

Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

 aircraft.

The loss of the code-share with Jetconnect was a major blow to the airline. They lost access to Qantas' international network. Hence Origin had to rely solely on the domestic market, of which 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...

 held the majority. Jetconnect also acquired their own aircraft to provide service on routes previously operated by Origin, which meant Origin was also in competition with Jetconnect. The code-share loss thus resulted in the scaling back of jobs and aircraft.

Competition with Air New Zealand

Origin Pacific found it difficult to survive in the domestic market where it competed with Air New Zealand. Air New Zealand had a international network which allowed it to feed its domestic network with international travelers. They also received a New Zealand government financial bail-out in 2002 when they went into financial difficulties. This meant that Air New Zealand continued to compete with Origin. According to the airline's management, this was a major factor contributing to their financial problems.

Collapse

The airline ceased passenger operations on 10 August 2006. The closure of passenger services was mainly due to airports and Inland Revenue

Inland Revenue

The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, petroleum revenue tax and stamp duty...

 demanding money. However at the time the airline ceased passenger operations, Origin's passenger numbers were up more than usual.

It then ceased freight operations effective 14 September 2006.

The airline had collapsed due to due to large inherited debts. Origin Pacific was unable to find investors to inject additional capital.

The story of Origin Pacific is well documented in a short-run book of 12 ever copies called Down To Earth - The Story of Origin Pacific Airways.

Destinations

Prior to the suspension of domestic passenger services, the airline (as at January 2005) operated services to the following scheduled destinations:-

• Auckland
• Blenheim
• Christchurch
• Dunedin (discontinued 15 January 2005)
• Hamilton
  Hamilton International Airport
  For the airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, see Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport.The Hamilton International Airport is an airport located in the Waikato region, in New Zealand...
  
  
• Napier
  Napier Airport
  Hawke's Bay Airport is Hawke's Bay's main commercial airport serving domestic flights to the main centres of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as smaller centres such as Gisborne, Tauranga, Hamilton and Palmerston North...
  
  
• Nelson
  Nelson Airport (New Zealand)
  Nelson Airport is an airport in Nelson, New Zealand. Approximately 1.2 million passengers and visitors are said to use the airport terminal annually. Total passenger numbers for the 2011 financial year were 758,250. This represents passenger growth of approximately 11% on the previous...
  
  
• New Plymouth
  New Plymouth Airport
  New Plymouth Airport serves the city of New Plymouth, and the surrounding region of Taranaki. It is on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, and geographically, is the closest airport in the country to Australia...
  
  
• Palmerston North
• Wellington

The airline had also previously operated services to the following destinations:-

• Invercargill
  Invercargill Airport
  - Developing new services :*Air New Zealand spokesman Bruce Parton said the company increased seat capacity into and out of Invercargill by 30% during the past two years and now offered 52 services a week between Invercargill and Christchurch and 29 services a week between Invercargill and Wellington...
  
  
• Rotorua
• Queenstown (on behalf of Jetconnect
  JetConnect
  Jetconnect is an airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. It is a shell company of Qantas. It was established in July 2002 and started operations in October 2002. It operates trans-tasman services between New Zealand and Australia under the Qantas brand. It employs crew based in New Zealand and...
  
  )
• Taupo
  Taupo Airport
  Taupo Airport is a small airport 8 km to the south of Taupo township on the eastern shores of Lake Taupo, New Zealand....
  
  
• Tauranga
  Tauranga Airport
  Tauranga Airport is a regional airport 2NM to the north east of Tauranga city in the Bay of Plenty on the North Island of New Zealand.Scheduled flights are operated by Eagle Airways and Air Nelson, divisions of Air New Zealand, using Raytheon Beechcraft 1900D and De Havilland Dash 8 Q-300 aircraft...
  
  
• Wanganui

Fleet

During its operation Origin Pacific operated the following aircraft:

• 4 BAe Jetstream 31
• 3 BAe Jetstream 32
• 5 BAe Jetstream 41
• 1 Cessna 421
  Cessna 421
  -See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Taylor, John W.R. . Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. ISBN 0-354-00538-3....
  
  
• 2 ATR-72-212
• 3 DHC-8-100
• 2 DHC-8-300
• 1 Fairchild-Swearingen Metroliner III
• 3 Fairchild-Swearingen Metroliner 23

External links

• Details on AviationPage New Zealand