Glenorchy Air orders the Kodiak 100

Glenorchy Air has announced they will soon begin operating a brand new Kodiak 100 II from October this year.

Image: Kodiak

Glenorchy Air is a premium family-owned and operated scenic flight company based at Queenstown Airport. The airline has operated flights to Milford Sound, Mt. Cook, Mt. Aspiring, and Stewart Island since 1992.

On July twenty-first this year, Glenorchy Air announced they would soon welcome a new edition to their fleet. They expect to introduce a 2020 Daher Kodiak 100 Series II Turboprop to their growing fleet in October of this year. The aircraft will add an additional nine seats, bringing the airline’s overall capacity to forty-seven passengers per departure. Managing Director James Stokes and Safety Manager Michael Rutherford will travel to The United States to receive Daher approved pilot training at the end of July.

Image: Kodiak

The aircraft is a Kodiak 100 II, built by Daher in Idaho, USA in 2020​. The Kodiak 100 is a nine-seat turboprop aircraft with a 750hp Pratt & Whitney PT6-34 Turbine Engine. The aircraft will also have a Luxury leather interior as well as a Heated and air-conditioned cabin. Once in New Zealand, the Kodiak will be re-registered to ZK-KDK, the first aircraft built by Kodiak to be registered in New Zealand.

The Kodiak will be ferried across the Pacific to Performance Aviation in Wānaka once delivery preparation work is complete. After additional training and regulatory approval in New Zealand, we expect it will be operational by the end of October 2023.

Image: Kodiak

The Kodiaks engine is capable of running on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) when this becomes available in New Zealand which means Glenorchy Air can maintain course to use SAF in their turbine aircraft. This also runs alongside their sustainability commitment. The airline said This was an important factor in selecting the aircraft as we intend to be the first Queenstown-based operator to use SAF.

Source: Glenorchy Air