SJ FOM Commenced operations 1995 Ceased operations March 30, 2008 | FOM FREE AIR Destinations 12 Founded 1995 | |
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Key people Rob Fyfe (CEO, Air New Zealand); Stephen Jones (General Manager, Zeal320) Alliance Star Alliance (affiliate member under parent company Air New Zealand) Fleet size 12 (Zeal320 aircraft used) | ||
Freedom air aviation promotional video
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.
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History
The airline was established in 1995 as a response to the commencement of discount services between Australia and New Zealand by Kiwi Airlines and started operations on 8 December 1995 with a single Boeing 757. It was formed as South Pacific Air Charters by Mount Cook Airline. It was later controlled directly by Air New Zealand.
By 2004 its fleet had expanded to five Boeing 737-300 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.
The Freedom Air fleet at March 2007 consisted of 12 Airbus A320-200. In June 2006, aircraft from Freedom Air were combined with Air New Zealand's fleet of Airbus A320-200 under the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) of Zeal320 Limited, which was then the sole operator of the Air New Zealand Group's Airbus fleet. When the airline ceased Zeal320 had one aircraft (ZK-OJO) painted in Freedom Air livery. As such, Freedom Air has no aircraft or current Air Operators Certificate, and Freedom Air is no longer an operational entity.
Air New Zealand ceased all Freedom Air operations from the end of March 2008.
Destinations
Throughout its existence, Freedom Air flew to six destinations in New Zealand, five in Australia and one in Fiji. 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. Flights to Nadi and Newcastle were withdrawn prior to 2008.