Aircraft
Quake Damage Drives Sounds Air’s Search for Larger Aircraft
Closure of road between Blenheim and Christchurch boosts New Zealand regional's passenger traffic
Sounds Air operates a fleet of five nine-seat Pilatus PC-12s and five 12-seat Cessna Caravans on domestic routes in New Zealand. It now plans to expand its capacity by adding either Beech 1900Ds or Saab 340s. (Photo: Gavin Conroy/Classicaircraftphotography.com)
Sounds Air operates a fleet of five nine-seat Pilatus PC-12s and five 12-seat Cessna Caravans on domestic routes in New Zealand. It now plans to expand its capacity by adding either Beech 1900Ds or Saab 340s. (Photo: Gavin Conroy/Classicaircraftphotography.com)

The long-term closure of the main road between the cities of Blenheim and Christchurch caused by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated areas of New Zealand’s South Island in November 2016 has produced enough extra passenger traffic on the route for regional carrier Sounds Air to add aircraft larger than the nine-seat Pilatus PC-12s it operates now.


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