Stewart Island Flights is a commuter airline from New Zealand that conducts scheduled flights on light aircraft between Invercargill and Stewart Island. The airline also operates charter services to several of the island’s beaches. In 2000, Southern Air was acquired by South East AirLtd, which was founded by Raymond Hector and Bill Moffatt in 1993. Since then, South East AirLtd has been the parent company and holder of the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) under which Stewart Island Flights and Invercargill Aircraft Maintenance operate. [1][2]
The company also flies from Mason Bay on the western side of Stewart Island, to Duck Creek, Martin's Creek, Cavalier, and Kilbride. and beach landing sites at Doughboy Bay, Little Hellfire Beach, West Ruggedy Beach, Sealers Bay (Codfish Island), and Smoky Beach.[4]
Until 2011, the parent company South East Air operated an IFR post run using a Piper PA-32 between Invercargill and Dunedin. As such, South East Air was one of only two companies in New Zealand that had the capability to fly a single-engine piston aircraft at night under IFR.
Fleet
As of January 2024, the Stewart Island Flights fleet consists of the following aircraft:[5]