NZ dependant on aviation?
 

here in Europe we have a big news about a volcano erupting in Iceland and spreading ash all over the place that flying is not safe any more because the ash in the air could jam the engines of the planes. There is no knowing when this ban on flying will be lifted, it could be hours, it could be days, it could even be weeks but a lot of holiday-makers are very surly.

How about in your part of the world if there was a similar case in your neighborhood. I read that 70000 years ago a volcano in Sumatra by erupting almost killed what was then the mankind. NZ is much more dependant on aviation than Europe, or is it?

After all, there is nothing that can only be carried by air but there is a lot of stuff which can't be carried by air and must be carried by sea or rail. Well, speaking of exports and imports, the rail-alternative is not really feasible in your case.

But on a serious note, have you there in your part of the world thought of any "plan-B" if for some reason aviation is not possible?

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

good question! I'm no expert, but I think lots of New Zealands exports/imports are by ship anyway.

there are various shipping ports North/south Island that supply most things.

Our nearest is Lyttleton. Everything from Fuel to Bananas here!!

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

heck this is New Zealand we dont have a national rail service,are only just realising that the houses here are cold and damp,start our international 6
0'clock news with a New zealand breaking story,think double galazing =two panes of glass and love pinapple lumps heck if that ever happend here "well be right mate":thumbup:

thats why I love the place!

george

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

Have decided I need to keep a dinghy in my Disaster Emergency Kit now... :rofl:

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

We would lose pretty much all our tourism valued at 9 billion odd if the planes were grounded here. As for plan 'B' I personaly don't need one for myself as I see being stuck in NZ as no hardship atall. Can't speak for the country as a whole.

Having said that I am seriously thinking 'do I want to be in the UK come Dec 2012' when a number of learned folk namely the Mayans and Notradamus have predicted world changing events. I know I sound nuts but if they were right I would hate to be stuck on the other side of the world with little or no chance of returning back to NZ for an extended period. I am considering replanning this extended vacation to the UK. This volcanic episode has really spooked me and I hate the thought of being 'stuck' in the wrong country.

Does anyone else believe or think that the world is on the cusp of a change that will wrought havoc upon mankind? Who would have thought 9/11 or the banking collapse were possible.

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

If we're talking survivalism one of the best things about NZ is that it is self-sufficient in food unlike the UK :) It's also far away from the other large concentrations of population (not that it helped with swine flu) but it might help if a dirty bomb is set off in Europe or America...

ooh isn't this a positive thread.... but yeah all the planes being grounded has suddenly got me worried I might be stuck on the wrong side of the world already. C'mon September.

WP

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

It would be good if nothing came in or out as we have the capacity to feed 40 million people here and send most of it away :sneaky:

Milk might come down a bit ;)

Neil


PS Nearly all imports come in via ship so apart from tourism we would survive :thumbsup:

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

We're only a 48-hour sea passage from Sydney. I'm sure some enterprising person/govt would set up a shuttle service for tourists if our air space was going to be closed for long enough.
None of our exports depend on air frieght that I can think of. Oh, crayfish I suppose so you could expect those to become seriously cheap:D

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

I dont think NZ was realy affected by swine flu very much at all. Working within the nursing profession and having recently attended two seminars about epidemiology and the rate that swine flu affected New Zealand we fared really well. A useless/useful point to make is the hospital that stuggled to deal with it was Tauranga. Only five ICU beds they were utilising Waikato and Auckland and also having to nurse and care for ICU patient in their post op recovery unit (PACU)

In the Waiakto region we had 3 deaths (Bear in mind this has a population of 800,000). I cant remember what the death total was for the whole of NZ but it was certainly under 20. I think per ratio of people the percentages were very low. Even those who tesyed positive for H1N1 were very low percentage per population again.

Over all NZ fared really well in comparison to other developed countries. We are not out of the woods so to speak just yet (no new diagnosies over our summer but we will have to wait and see what this winter brings).

The fact that we are isolated and are easily able to test and isolate people who arrive in the country make it alot easier than the UK who have open borders!:fingerscrossed:

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

Yes that's true about the swine flu, in fact most places faired significantly better than originally feared - thank goodness! It reminded me of the mad cow disease panic in the mid 1990s in some ways.

I suppose the point I was making is that the remoteness of NZ didn't really act as much protection. Mass air travel removes some of the advantages of remoteness.

A reasonably good medical system and low population density outside the cities are bound to be positive factors in an epedemic.

WP

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

I haven't see any stats but I would guess air as a means of transport is quite high between major centres of NZ. Ceratinly rail is pretty non existant.

Certainly a ban on flights in NZ airspace would no doubt have a big effect on tourists in & out, as well as travel to Australia.

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

Doesn’t pay to worry. Death is inevitable at some point and you have no idea when, you might be able to calculate a probability but short of ending it yourself you just have no idea. The things that are most likely to get you in the end are things that flash through your mind probably once a week and are not fantastically exciting.

The Maya weren’t that smart any way. This was a civilisation more backwards than a group of Spanish men with muskets and, despite having built roads, never realised the potential use of wheels as a mechanism for reducing friction. They never even figured out metal tools but did like playing a ball game after which the loser would be killed. Should I take their predictions about the future seriously? I think not (unless we are going to have a public holiday).

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

This may be before anyones time in New Zealand but a restriction on flights has occurred in this country due to volcanic activity way back in 1995 and 1996 when Mt Ruapehu was erupting. For a period of two months in 1996 flights were severly disrupted around the country.

If Mt Taranaki/Egmont should come out of its dormant state again that would pretty much cut the country in half with prevailing westerly winds. It should be remembered that New Zealand is a geologically active country and that volcanic activity may occur in your lifetime and has.

What is interesting to note is that the amount of ash emitted from Icelands volcanoe is not much more than Ruapehu emitted in 1996 the differance is the wind carried it out into the pacific away from many international routes.

Meanwhile Wellington's Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre is keeping an eye on a volcanic eruption of steam and ash in Vanuatu, although aviation forecaster Micky Malivuk said that was rising to only about 10,000ft (3km) above sea-level, well below the 30,000ft (9km) altitudes flown by jet aircraft.

If you look further into it there are several volcanoes erupting at the moment but only this one in iceland is in a position to cause disruption. A volcanoe in Alaska is throwing more dust and gas into the air at present than what is happening in Iceland. The differance is it is far enough away not to be noticed.

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

How long does it take by sea from NZ to Australia? In the view of tourism Australia must be the only place where it is practical to travel by sea. Those sailors who are on ships taking exports and bringing imports must be paid relatively well because they certainly are away for weeks, if not for months, every time they go away.

Re: NZ dependant on aviation?
 

Well I'm coming out before the end of September even if I have to catch a bloody boat!

Hmmm might have to set off soon.

WP