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Source: Reuters
The first trans-Tasman flights between Rotorua and Sydney are due to start on Saturday.
The Air New Zealand Airbus A320 flight is scheduled to arrive at the newly branded Rotorua International airport at 2.30pm and depart for Sydney an hour later.
The twice-weekly service is a multi-million dollar venture which has taken nearly 10 years to get off the ground.
Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters says the trans-Tasman link will make the city "truly international ...it is history in the making."
"As a council we have been working hard towards this day, the benefits will be astronomical. I look at Queenstown and the economic impacts similar flights have generated."
Destination Rotorua's Tourism Marketing general manger Don Gunn describes the service as a great opportunity for Rotorua and the wider region to boom.
It will be a boon for the region's tourism operators after a tough winter during which overseas visitor numbers fell significantly, he says.
The flight would save travellers about three hours without an Auckland stopover, according to owner-operator of Rotorua's House of Travel Pam Turner.
However, the airport's upgrade to trans-Tasman capacity has not been without controversy.
Residents from a neighbouring marae say noise level issues have not been sufficiently addressed and they plan to protest at the airport's gates when the first flights arrive and take off.
The height of trees close to the flight path have also been an on-going concern.
The Environment Court recently ruled in favour of a resident that his trees could remain.
If the trees are not trimmed flight loadings will have to be lessened by 26 passengers to meet the Civil Aviation Authority's safety thresholds.
