Michael Magnusson charts the recent evolution of Air Chathams, which operates regional services across New Zealand and islands of the South Pacific

Saab 340, ZK-CIZ (c/n 357), taxiing for departure on at Auckland in June 2018 AIRTEAMIMAGES.

COM/COLIN HUNTER

Air Chathams was founded in 1984 by Craig Emeny and his wife, Marion, to provide a connecting air service for the Chatham Islands, located around 500 miles southwest of New Zealand. He had first moved to the archipelago when offered a job as a young pilot, operating services to the adjacent Pitt Island. In the early 1980s there was no regular service between the Chatham Islands and New Zealand, which prompted Emeny to start his own airline.

The company began flying live crayfish (lobster) to the mainland where they could achieve five times the market price of those processed on Chatham Island. Passengers would soon follow and, four decades later, the business remains a family affair with Emeny operating as CEO and Marion as CFO; and their sons Duane and Matthew as COO and head of flight operations, respectively. Emenys aside, the carrier employs around 170 staff and operates a fleet of 11 aircraft. The first aircraft was a twin-engine Cessna 337 Skymaster, ZK-TAI (c/n 33701456), purchased from Air Rarotonga on the Cook Islands and capable of carrying five passengers. The airline has operated a handful of types, including eight Fairchild Swearingen Metroliners and seven Convair CV-580s. Over 25 years, the 580s became the mainstay of the fleet and when the last aircraft was retired in August 2022 it was the final commercial operator to do so. One example, the 1953-built ZK-CIB (c/n 327A), remains on display at the National Toy and Transport Museum in Wānaka. The Convair suited the carrier, having quick change cabins that made the passenger to cargo transition swift. They offered excellent payload range and speed, but with a high fuel burn and varying cockpit configurations – yet the pilots loved them.

In 2005, the airline jumped at the opportunity to fly chilled tuna 800 miles from Niue, across the South Pacific to Fiji, but Reef Air – as the enterprise was known – lasted just a few weeks because the Fijian government refused to sanction passenger flights. Chathams Pacific was formed in 2008 to operate domestic routes for the Tongan government, but in 2012 the government changed its mind and established Real Tonga, which forced the closure of Chathams Pacific and ended the adventure.