The Bluebridge's Connemara and Interislander's Kaiarahi in Picton. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee
People unable to travel by ferry across Cook Strait have in some cases been chartering flights in order to travel between the North and South Islands.
The Interislander's Kaitaki has been out of action for a month due to a gearbox issue and Bluebridge has cancelled sailings aboard the stricken Feronia ferry for three days after the discovery of an engineering fault earlier this week.
Sounds Air general manager Andrew Crawford said the airline had been doing charter flights for small groups of people travelling from Blenheim or Picton to Wellington.
"Often groups, people who've got a function or something to go to and there's ten or twelve that need to get across that we'll put a flight on for them."
He said spaces on the return flights were then filled to further increase capacity.
Demand has been high for travel across the Cook Strait in recent months.
"Certainly, there's been higher demand and where possible we've tried to add extra flights, it's not just ferry issues, but also weather issues they have had a bit of a bad run lately.
"The schedule stays the same, we just add where we can, due to aircraft and pilot availability, but some days there are two or three extra return flights a day."
Aircraft going across the Cook Strait typically carried 12 passengers and the flights were full both ways, Crawford told Checkpoint.
Flights range from $69 up to in the $200 range, he said.
Many people travelled to access healthcare and when flights were full there was a knock-on effect, he added.
Crawford said he had five or six pilot vacancies currently.
He said they were heading into a busy Easter - with no seats available out of Wellington to Blenheim or Picton from Thursday until Sunday.
In Picton, Piwaka Lodge and Backpackers owner Nicci Fitzgerald said the ongoing ferry cancellations meant a number of people were showing up in need of last minute accommodation, or for help changing their travel plans.
That had involved a few runs to the airport and she said Sounds Air had been fantastic at "picking up a lot of the slack".
She said a young German couple turned up last weekend with a last minute ferry cancellation and no idea how they were going to make their flight home.
"They were supposed to be sailng at 7.45am to travel to Auckland to catch a plane home, and she was completely beside herself with young baby. So it was just a matter of playing mum and finding an alternative which was flying them out of Blenheim and a taxi of course from Picton."
Fitzgerald said she was a bit worried about what was going to happen if there were more ferry cancellations over Easter as she was fully booked.
Interislander executive general manager Walter Rushbrook has said all passengers booked to sail over Easter will be able to cross the Cook Strait during the holiday weekend.
It still does not have a date for when the Kaitaki will return, having been out of service from March 4 due to a gearbox issue.
