PROFILBARU.COM

Sunair
Founded	1985
Commenced operations	2006 as Sunair
Hubs	Tauranga Airport
Fleet size	12
Destinations	10
Headquarters	Tauranga, New Zealand
Key people	Daniel Power (CEO)
Website	www.sunair.co.nz

Sunair is an airline headquartered in Tauranga, on the North Island of New Zealand. It operates scheduled services, flying to Gisborne, Hamilton, Wairoa, Napier, Whangārei, Whitianga, Motiti Island and Great Barrier Island.^[1] It also has charter and pilot training operations. Sunair has fifteen aircraft.^[2]

History

Sunair initially started as a commuter operator to Motiti Island in the Bay of Plenty with one aircraft. The airline has flown for over 30 years and has a safe accident free record. It operates approximately 4000 flights per year with a staff of 28.^[3]

The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand withdrew Sunair's Air Operator Certificate, along with the Certificate of Airworthiness for the Sunair fleet, on September 8, 2017. No reason for the certificate withdrawal has been made public by the Authority. The airline remained inoperative while the matter was pursued by the authority.^{[citation needed]}

Sunair remained grounded for 203^[4] days and was finally granted permission to fly again in April 2018, by NZ CAA.

The first service resumed^[4] in its own right was the doctor service between Whangārei and Kaitaia, which Sunair had been able to continue to operate using leased aircraft. Scheduled services were offered again from 28 May 2018 with flights being offered from Hamilton or Tauranga to Great Barrier Island or Whangārei, and from Great Barrier Island to Whitianga or Whangārei.^{[citation needed]}

Destinations

As of December 2024, Sunair currently operates services from the following destinations:^[5]^[6]

City	Airport	Notes
Auckland	Ardmore Airport
Gisborne	Gisborne Airport
Hamilton	Hamilton Airport^[7]
Great Barrier Island	Great Barrier Aerodrome
Kaitaia	Kaitaia Airport
Napier	Hawkes Bay Airport
Tauranga	Tauranga Airport
Wairoa	Wairoa Aerodrome
Whangārei	Whangarei Airport
Whitianga	Whitianga Aerodrome

Terminated Destinations

Fleet

As of December 2020, the Sunair fleet consists of the following light aircraft:^[2]^[8]

3 Cessna 172
9 Piper PA-23 Aztec

Former fleet

Over the years Sunair has flown many kinds of airplanes.

References

^ http://www.sunair.co.nz/downloads/SunairScheduleIssue35.pdf (PDF)^{[dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b "New Zealand Civil Aircraft Register". caa.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
^ "A Little History About Sunair". sunair.co.nz. Archived from the original on 20 June 2016.
^ ^a ^b L, Steve (13 February 2011). "3rd Level New Zealand: Sunair - Still Shining". 3rd Level New Zealand. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
^ "Sunair scheduled flights". sunair.co.nz. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "The Waikato Times". www.waikatotimes.co.nz. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
^ Sunair Aviation pilotcareercentre.com, accessdate 21 September 2020