The Invercargill-Auckland jet flights have been running at 84-per cent capacity since they began three months ago, mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt says. Fridays and Sundays were generally the most popular fights with people heading either north or south for a long weekend. The majority of flyers were business travellers but Finnerty said there had been an increase in the number of tourists flying both ways. The flight opened up Invercargill to New Zealand's biggest city and it opened up the world to Southland, Finnerty said. Passengers through Invercargill Airport had grown steadily over the year but there had been a significant upswing since the jets started flying.

Source: Stuff December 02, 2019 23:37 UTC