Freedom of Choice for Dunedin Businesses Takes Off!
(23 March 2005 - Dunedin, Otago) Dunedin’s business and industry leaders will find doing business in Australia a whole
lot easier thanks to the efforts of Project Gateway and Freedom Air. Starting 28 March, business professionals can take
advantage of three scheduled weekday flights direct from Dunedin to Sydney and back till the end of September 2005.
“It’s about ease of doing business in Australia,’ says Cr. John Bezett, Chair of Project Gateway and the Council’s
Economic Development Committee. “Getting to and from Sydney was costly and delays via Christchurch cost time and money.”
Advocates from Project Gateway lobbied hard and Freedom Air has responded with a new scheduled weekly service from
Dunedin on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Previously the airline only flew twice a week to Sydney, on Thursdays and
Sundays. Says Cr Bezett: “Overall it’s smart business, and one that we hope will be profitable not only for Dunedin but
for Freedom Air.”
Approaching Freedom Air late 2004, Project Gateway advocates argued weekday flights between Dunedin and Sydney were
vital for the City’s continued commercial growth and that there was a ready demand for such frequency.
Dunedin’s sustained buoyant economy was a key driver for demand. The City’s strong business and tourism growth; increase
of over 6,000 jobs since 1999; growing population and expanding business, hotel and international airport infrastructure
backed their claim.
Rachel Gardiner, Freedom Air’s Sales and Marketing Manager, says: “Freedom Air has a very positive working relationship
with the members of Project Gateway. We were keen to work collectively to look at how we could enhance our scheduled
services from Dunedin to Sydney, making them more appealing to the business community.
The introduction of a weekly Dunedin-Sydney schedule departing on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday represented a low risk
opportunity for us to test the demand for these services from the business market. The new departure times provide
increased flexibility, reducing the inconvenience of travelling to an alternative port and minimising the time away from
the office”.
Together Freedom Air and Project Gateway are launching a promotional campaign to increase awareness among local business
people of the new air service. It’s hoped that the weekday flights will help encourage business growth and further
opportunities for Dunedin.
Project Gateway is led by business and tourism advocates, the Dunedin City Council, Dunedin International Airport
Limited, Otago Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Tourism Dunedin. Its aim is to help facilitate business growth by
working in partnership with International Airlines and Dunedin and Australian businesses creating more jobs in Dunedin,
using the City as a Gateway.