Sounds Air Expands Caravan Fleet

Sounds Air Travel & Tourism Ltd. has purchased another Cessna C208 Caravan, ZK-TZR. The aircraft will operate between Wellington and Picton, Nelson, Blenheim and Kaikoura in conjunction with Sounds Air’s two existing Cessna Caravans.

The latest Sounds Air Caravan was built in 2002 and imported into New Zealand by Izard Pacific Aviation, based at Springhill Airfield, Wellsford. It had only completed 750 operating hours since new. When purchased, ZK-TZR was fitted with a full leather luxury six-seat interior; however, Sounds Air has fitted it with standard commuter type seating to give it the same 12-passenger configuration as its two existing Caravans. The new addition will also be repainted in Sounds Air’s livery.

The Caravan has proved particularly effective for Sounds Air in its scheduled passenger and freight operations—particularly since approval was given for it to operate scheduled passenger services under IFR.

Developed by Cessna in the early eighties, the first prototype Caravan flew in 1984 and over 1,000 of them have been built since then. Cessna Caravans have completed over 11 million flying hours worldwide, and since its introduction to Sounds Air’s fleet in 1986, the company’s Caravans have made more than 75,000 crossings of Cook Strait.