Bay of Islands Airport

Story

Kerikeri Airport, also known as Bay of Islands Airport, is an airport at Kerikeri, New Zealand. It is about a three hour drive from Auckland and a 40-minute flight from Auckland Airport.HistoryThe airport was initially a grass airstrip created in the early 1930s or possibly earlier. During World War II, the airport was taken over by the Defence Department, for Royal New Zealand Air Force training. After the war ended, it was once again run by local government.In 1972, Mount Cook Airlines decided to use the airport to connect to tourist resorts. The service failed through lack of patronage. A Kerikeri-Auckland route was started by the airline but was not widely used. It was not until 1992, after the transfer of the airport to Northern Airports Corporation (now merged into Far North Holdings Ltd), that Eagle Airways (a subsidiary of Air New Zealand) took over scheduled service and patronage on the route increased. Eagle Airways ceased its Kerikeri service in 2015 and was replaced by another Air New Zealand Link subsidiary, Air Nelson, operating their 50-seat Bombardier Dash 8 Q300.