New Zealand's Whakatāne District Council has declined a raft of requests from Air Chathams (3C, Chatham Island) to support flights from Whakatane to Auckland International. During a May 8, 2025, meeting, Mayor Victor Luca said landing fees could be waived for six months, but that was it.

Air Chathams had asked the council to write off a NZD350,000 New Zealand dollar (USD207,000) loan; provide a 12-month holiday on landing fees (with an option to extend); enter into a profit and loss sharing arrangement for the Auckland-Whakatāne route; and provide a new loan of up to NZD3.2 million (USD1.9 million) to help buy aircraft to service the route. Air Chathams later withdrew the request for the aircraft loan after a deal to sell one of its existing planes fell through.

"Over the past 10 years, council has provided various forms of support to help Air Chathams operate in the district, including a loan, promotional partnerships, operational fee relief, and staff assistance with business systems and marketing," reads a Whakatāne District Council statement.

In April, Air Chathams said it may have to withdraw from Auckland-Whakatāne, saying it had lost over NZD1 million (USD590,000) on the route since April 2023. Whakatāne is located in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty region, just over 300 kilometres (or four hours' driving time) southeast of Auckland. The ch-aviation schedules module shows Air Chathams operates twice-daily roundtrips to Auckland on weekdays using a Saab 340A and one roundtrip on Sundays. Sunair Aviation (Tauranga) also connects the airport to Gisborne, Hamilton, NZ, and Napier/Hastings.

According to Radio New Zealand, the council meeting unanimously rejected entering into a profit and loss share agreement or providing a loan to purchase a new aircraft. Some councillors said they would support writing off the existing loan but would consider converting the debt into equity shares. Others proposed implementing an instalment repayment plan.

"We are not an airline," said Luca. "We are a public service institution and we're here to serve the public. [Airlines are] a difficult business to make money in especially in provincial areas and I do think that, rather than us subsidising, it should be central government that comes to the party with its big chequebook."

The council meeting also agreed to undertake an expressions of interest campaign to try to secure business-friendly flights to both Auckland and Wellington.

ch-aviation has contacted Air Chathams for comment.