Freedom Air

Freedom Air was Air New Zealand Group's low-cost airline which operated from December 1995 to March 2008. It ran scheduled passenger services from New Zealand to Australia and Fiji and charter services within New Zealand. Its main base was Auckland Airport.[1]

This article is about the former airline of New Zealand. For the Guam-based airline, see Freedom Air (Guam).
Freedom Air
IATA ICAO Callsign
SJ FOM FREE AIR
Founded1995
Commenced operations1995
Ceased operations30 March 2008
Destinations12
Parent companyAir New Zealand Ltd.
HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
Key peopleRob Fyfe (CEO, Air New Zealand)
A Freedom Air Airbus A320 in Dunedin
Freedom Air's ZK-OJO wore special colours to promote Warner Bros. Movie World.

History

The airline was established in 1995 as a response to the commencement of discount services between Australia and New Zealand by Kiwi Airlines[2] and started operations on 8 December 1995 with a single Boeing 757. It was formed as South Pacific Air Charters by Mount Cook Airline.

By 2004 its fleet had expanded to five Boeing 737-300[3] aircraft and it was providing direct non-stop services to the Australian cities of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne from Hamilton, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Palmerston North. Flights to Fiji were also operated. It briefly operated on the New Zealand main trunk domestic routes such as Auckland–Christchurch, but ceased these services to concentrate on providing value trans-Tasman flights.[2]

In June 2006, aircraft from Freedom Air were combined with Air New Zealand's fleet of Airbus A320-200 under the air operator's certificate (AOC) of Zeal320 Limited, which was then the sole operator of the Air New Zealand Group's Airbus fleet.[4] When the airline ceased Zeal320 had one aircraft (ZK-OJO) painted in Freedom Air livery.[5] As such, Freedom Air has no aircraft or current air operator's certificate, and Freedom Air is no longer an operational entity.[6]

Air New Zealand ceased all Freedom Air operations from the end of March 2008.[7]

Aircraft fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A32020032008Thirteen aircraft
Boeing 737-2001996
2001		1997
2001		Four aircraft
Boeing 737-300 Classic19962008Five aircraft
Boeing 757-20019951996One aircraft leased from Britannia Airways

Destinations

Throughout its existence, Freedom Air flew to six destinations in New Zealand, five in Australia and one in Fiji.[8] When the airline shut down on 30 March 2008, all services were replaced by Air New Zealand flights, with the exception of flights out of Palmerston North, which left the airport without any international services.[9] Flights to Nadi and Newcastle were withdrawn prior to 2008.

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References
  1. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 84.
  2. "Air NZ's competitors on domestic market". Television New Zealand. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  3. Freedom Air Press Release - Freedom Air’s fifth aircraft takes to the skies Archived 24 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine, 10 December 2004
  4. New Zealand Aircraft Register
  5. Details on AviationPage New Zealand Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. New Zealand Part 119 Air Operator certificate holders
  7. "Air NZ to ground Freedom Air". Stuff.co.nz. 6 September 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  8. "Freedom Air - Route Guide". Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  9. Air New Zealand Press Release - Air New Zealand to overhaul Tasman and Pacific Services, 6 September 2007
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