| Airline: | Freedom Air International |
| Iata: | SJ |
| Icao: | FOM |
| Callsign: | FREE AIR |
| Parent: | Air New Zealand |
| Founded: | 1995 |
| Commenced: | 8 December 1995 |
| Ceased: | 30 March 2008 |
| Headquarters: | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Key People: | Rob Fyfe (CEO) |
| Hubs: | Auckland Airport |
| Fleet Size: | 11 |
| Destinations: | 13 |
| Website: | www.freedomair.com |
Freedom Air (legally Freedom Air International) was a New Zealand low-cost airline which operated since 8 December 1995 to March 2008. It was part of the Air New Zealand Group which ran scheduled passenger services from New Zealand to Australia and Fiji and charter services within New Zealand. Its main hub was Auckland Airport.[1]
The airline was established in 1995 as a response to the commencement of discount services between Australia and New Zealand by Kiwi Travel International Airlines[2] and started operations on 8 December 1995 with a single Boeing 757-200. It was ordinally formed as South Pacific Air Charters by Mount Cook Airline and renamed to Freedom Air International in 1998.
By 2004, its fleet had expanded to five Boeing 737-300[3] aircraft and it was providing direct non-stop services to the Australian cities of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne from Hamilton, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Palmerston North. Flights to Fiji were also operated. It briefly operated on the New Zealand main trunk domestic routes such as Auckland–Christchurch, but ceased these services to concentrate on providing value trans-Tasman flights.[2]
In June 2006, the aircraft from Freedom Air were combined with Air New Zealand's fleet of Airbus A320-200 under the air operator's certificate of Zeal320, which was then the sole operator of the Air New Zealand Group's Airbus fleet.[4] When the airline ceased Zeal320 had one aircraft painted in Freedom Air livery.[5] As such, Freedom Air has no aircraft or current air operator's certificate, and Freedom Air is no longer an operational entity.[6]
Air New Zealand ceased all Freedom Air operations from the end of March 2008.[7]
Throughout its existence, Freedom Air flew to six destinations in New Zealand, five in Australia and one in Fiji.[8] When the airline shut down on 30 March 2008, all services were replaced by Air New Zealand flights, with the exception of flights out of Palmerston North, which left the airport without any international services.[9] Flights to Nadi and Newcastle were withdrawn prior to 2008.
Freedom Air had operated the following aircraft:[12]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 13 | 2005 | 2008 | 3 leased from Air New Zealand |
| Boeing 737-200 | 2 | 2001 | 2001 | 1 leased from Airwork |
| Boeing 737-300 | 9 | 1996 | 2006 | 3 leased from Air New Zealand 1 leased from TACA Airlines 1 leased from Polynesian Airlines 1 leased from Transavia |
| Boeing 757-200 | 1 | 1995 | 1996 | Leased from Britannia Airways |