Invercargill Airport has bounced back from the doom and gloom of 2020 and is now operating at 94% of what it was doing before the Covid-19 pandemic.

It will receive an extra direct jet service between Auckland and Invercargill during the school holidays, which increases the jet schedule to five a week.

Airport manager Nigel Finnerty said today the airport company had come back strongly since lockdown a year ago and things had been going well for many months.

“Our flight schedule is overall 94% of where we were pre-Covid. It has exceeded my expectations on how fast it would come back and how strong,” Mr Finnerty said.

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The appearance of customers going through the airport had changed, perhaps in response to the fact that more Southern people were doing business with Auckland over Zoom, and Auckland people were heading south to meet families and friends and explore the region, he said.

“We see people dressed differently to the business people we were seeing pre-Covid. It seems more people are tourists or travelling the country,” Mr Finnerty said.

Air New Zealand communications spokesman Julian Light said the airline had been “swamped” this week, after the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the Trans-Tasman bubble would open on April 19.

“Currently we are operating AKL-IVC four times a week with flights on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

“Over the April school holidays, we are trialling two Saturday returns with one on 17 April and the other on 1 May to cater for school holiday demand.

“Outside of school holidays we will continue to operate four times a week AKL-IVC returns throughout winter,” Mr Light said.

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Mr Finnerty said the extra flights showed demand for the jet service remained high and Southlanders still enjoyed connecting with New Zealand’s biggest population.

Meanwhile, the airport’s general aviation services were going well with Stewart Island operators getting lots of people in their terminal, Mr Finnerty said.

Mr Finnerty said he was very pleased the airport company had been able to retain its staffing levels during the Covid-19 uncertainty and had got back to normal operations.

Financially, the company was going well and though it was still feeling the effects of Covid, passenger levels and flights were now about what they were pre-Covid, he said.

The airport was also looking forward to welcoming two charter jet services from Auckland for the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival in May.

He understood the seats on those Bluff Oyster Festival flights had sold out quickly.

Although Invercargill does not operate international flights, Mr Finnerty said the Trans-Tasman bubble opening was great news as it allowed friends and families to reconnect.

Air New Zealand resumes international flights from Queenstown Airport on April 19.

It has scheduled three to five flights per week to Melbourne and four to seven flights per week to Sydney.

Three flights a week between Queenstown and Brisbane are scheduled to begin on May 5.

In another boost to Southland’s prospects, Air New Zealand’s April edition of Kia Ora magazine is now out and Southland is on the cover.

The publication features Oreti beach and gives a nod to the Burt Munro Challenge.