An Otter bound for the North

Press, 14 December 1983, Page 51

An Otter bound for the North

The Mount Cook Line’s newly acquired 20-passen-ger, jet-prop Twin Otter aircraft at Christchurch Airport on Monday after completing its delivery flight from Britain, where it has been in service. The Canadian-built aircraft will have its interior refurbished in Christchurch before being introduced on the company’s AucklandRotorua and Auckland-Bay of Islands routes later this month or early next year. Bay of Islands services and the supplementary commuter services between Rotorua and Auckland are at present provided by a nine-passenger PA3I Piper Chieftan, which will be transferred to Christchurch. The Otter, which has short take-off and landing capability, will double the capa-

city of air services to the Bay of Islands and increase capacity on the Rotorua route 27 per cent. . The Otter is the only aircraft of its kind in New Zealand although the Mount Cook Line did use one on the Milford Sound run some years ago. More than 500 Twin Otters have been built, and 300 of them are in commuter service in the United States. Two Pratt and Whitney jet-prop engines power the Otter, which carries a crew of two pilots.