After a soft launch in April, Texel Air NZ (Auckland International) officially debuted at an event in Auckland last weekend, and says it plans to build its current fleet of one aircraft to three by the end of calendar 2023 and ten aircraft by the end of 2026.
After sending a B737-300(F) to New Zealand in late March to begin servicing a contract with New Zealand Post and Parceline Express, Texel Air NZ took delivery of its first permanent aircraft, a B737-800(BCF), now registered as ZK-TXE (msn 29985) in May, with it starting scheduled cargo flights on the Auckland - Christchurch - Auckland sectors on May 29.
Texel Air NZ is a subsidiary of Texel Air (XLR, Bahrain International), whose founder and chairman, John Chisholm, is a New Zealander. "The pandemic and recent weather events put New Zealand's supply chain resilience to the test and highlighted the need for additional air freight capacity," he told Radio New Zealand earlier this week.
Texel Air NZ says it will add another two B737-800(BCF)s to the fleet by the end of 2023. The parent operation in Bahrain currently has two B737-700(FC)s, two B737-800(BCF)s, and one B737-300F in its fleet. However, Texel Air CEO George Chisholm has previously told ch-aviation that the company was acquiring additional aircraft.
Beyond this year, Texel Air NZ said via a statement that it intends to grow its operation to ten aircraft by 2026, servicing the New Zealand and Australian markets through ACMI services targeting the express, post and general cargo markets. "We are making significant investments in aircraft and technology to enhance connectivity, speed, and efficiency so exporters and importers can rely on our air cargo operations," said John Chisholm.
