Business View Oceania - Oct 2023

46 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 5, ISSUE 10 A number of programmes are now in place. They include: • Down to the wire - encouraging wires to be removed or clearly marked to improve the safety of aerial agricultural operations; • AIRCARE - Improves safety, simplifies compliance, guarantees performance and builds customer loyalty’. This programme is currently being reshaped to conform more closely to current regulatory needs; • District/Regional Plan engagement - to educate and inform agencies on the roles and benefits of aviation; and • Helicopter safety - programmes with the New Zealand CAA and HAI to address major causes of helicopter accidents and educate the New Zealand industry. The demand side outlook for commercial GA in New Zealand, at present, is challenging. Primary product returns are falling which impacts on farmer income and their willingness to spend on aerial applications. The Government is also a major customer with pest eradication programmes cut back as it battles inflation and a weakening economy. New Zealand borders were closed for some time because of Covid. Tourism has not bounced back as strongly as initially projected. The FIFA Women’s World Cup brought a good number of tourists to New Zealand, but this was not necessarily reflected in increased demand for aerial tourism services. Bad weather in the early part of 2023 also impacted adversely on aerial activity in much of the North Island. A further consequence of the long border closure is that training schools have struggled to attract the numbers of international students that were coming to the country pre-Covid. Capability and capacity in this sector suffered while borders were closed. Air New Zealand and several domestic carriers now face shortages of skilled staff.