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Origin Pacific Airways

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Origin Pacific Airways
IATA ICAO Call sign
QO OGN [1] ORIGIN
Founded1996 (1996)
Commenced operationsApril 1997 (April 1997)
Ceased operations15 September 2006 (15 September 2006)[1]
HubsNelson Airport
Fleet sizeSee Below
DestinationsSee Below
HeadquartersNelson, New Zealand
Origin Pacific Airways BAe Jetstream 41 at Wellington Airport in June 2004.

Origin Pacific Airways was an airline based in Nelson in New Zealand. Its main base was at Nelson Airport (NSN). It ceased passenger operations on 10 August 2006, and its residual freight operations on 15 September 2006.

History

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Starting out

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Origin Pacific Airways was established by Robert Inglis and Nicki Smith in 1996 and started operations in April 1997.[1] Inglis and Smith had previously established Air Nelson which they subsequently sold to Air New Zealand. Mike Pero and a group of Wellington investors each also owned 25% shares in the company.

Code-share with Qantas Jetconnect

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Origin operated code-share flights on behalf of Jetconnect (a subsidiary of Qantas) 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 aircraft.

The loss of the code-share with Jetconnect was a major blow to the airline. They lost access to Qantas's international network and had to compete against the government-backed Air New Zealand and with a competing Jetconnect. The code-share loss thus resulted in the scaling back of jobs and aircraft.

Collapse

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The airline ceased passenger operations on 10 August 2006 when the airline could not service its debts to airports and to Inland Revenue. At the time the airline ceased passenger operations, Origin's passenger numbers were up more than usual.[2][3] Freight operations finished on 15 September 2006.

Destinations

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Prior to the suspension of domestic passenger services, the airline (as at January 2005) operated services to the following scheduled destinations:[4]

Destination Country IATA ICAO Airport Start End Status
Auckland New Zealand AKL NZAA Auckland International Airport Terminated
Blenheim New Zealand BHE NZWB Woodbourne Airport Terminated
Christchurch New Zealand CHC NZCH Christchurch International Airport Terminated
Dunedin New Zealand DUD NZDN Dunedin International Airport 15 January 2005 Terminated
Hamilton New Zealand HLZ NZHN Hamilton Airport Terminated
Invercargill New Zealand IVC NZNV Invercargill Airport Terminated
Napier New Zealand NPE NZNR Hawke's Bay Airport Terminated
Nelson New Zealand NSN NZNS Nelson Airport Terminated
New Plymouth New Zealand NPL NZNP New Plymouth Airport Terminated
Palmerston North New Zealand PMR NZPM Palmerston North International Airport Terminated
Queenstown New Zealand ZQN NZQN Queenstown Airport Terminated
Rotorua New Zealand ROT NZRO Rotorua Regional Airport Terminated
Taupō New Zealand TUO NZAP Taupo Airport Terminated
Tauranga New Zealand TRG NZTG Tauranga Airport Terminated
Wellington New Zealand WLG NZWN Wellington International Airport Terminated
Whanganui New Zealand WAG NZWU Wanganui Airport Terminated

Fleet

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During its operation Origin Pacific operated the following aircraft:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Flight International 10 April 2007
  2. ^ Stuff
  3. ^ News talk
  4. ^ Lowe, Steve. "Origin Pacific Airways - The airline for our times". 3rd Level NZ. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
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