FlyMySky Britten Norman BN-2A Islanders Poster

Fly My Sky, “We so fly”.

Fly My Sky was a small regional airline established on 11 April 2007, but had originally started operations as Mountain Air, which was established in 1998, with roots dating back to 1980 in Taumarunui, a small town located at one end of the infamous State Highway 43, AKA the Forgotten World Highway, thanks to the company Commercial Helicopters Ltd. However the history of Mountain Air will be covered on a later date, for today we talk about Fly My Sky.

Although Fly My Sky was registered as a company on 11 April 2007, it wasn’t until May of 2008 where Mountain Air (and their Auckland services branded as Great Barrier Xpress) would finally be rebranded as Fly My Sky. At the start of operations under the new brand and image, they operated one Hughes 500D helicopter, which was based at the airline’s base in Taumarunui, and 4 Britten Norman BN-2A Islanders, all of which were based in Auckland. The Islanders flew around the Auckland area, mostly to Claris Airfield and on-demand flights to Okiwi Airfield, both of which are located on Great Barrier Island. These services were originally operated by Mountain Air under the name Great Barrier Xpress, which became Fly My Sky. BN Islanders were fitted with extra window options, such as the one located behind the door, for better views for passengers. How kind!

BN Islander ZK-DLA was written off following a heavy landing at Okiwi Airfield on 24 January 2013. The aircraft was replaced by ZK-EVO (pictured above). The cause of the accident was listed as due to wind shear by the airline’s CEO. This would be the only notable incident in the company’s history.

The Fly My Sky helicopter operations ceased in February of 2017 following the selling of the Hughes 500D, registered ZK-HNT.


Fly My Sky attempted to restart flights to Whangarei in October 2018, around a decade after they ceased flying the route, but suffered from frequent cancellations and a few other issues, subsequently causing the services to cease in June of 2019. The route was originally operated by Mountain Air and continued under Fly My Sky for a couple of months before ceasing due to the economic recession (it was 2008, duh!).

In November 2019, Fly My Sky began offering a package deal for people wanting to visit Hobbiton, the iconic film set of the Lord Of The Rings/The Hobbit film trilogy. Passengers would rock up to Auckland Airport (obviously the domestic terminal) and hop aboard a BN-2A Islander. They would then be flown to Waharoa Airfield of Matamata, a town close by to the film set before hopping aboard a shuttle bus awaiting them. After a day out exploring Hobbiton, the passengers would return to Matamata to be flown back to Auckland. The package cost $399 all up.
The service was not successful and only saw a few services operated.

Fly My Sky was owned by a company called Commercial Helicopters Ltd. (remember they used to operate helicopter flights). However, on 20 March 2020, Commercial Helicopters Ltd. was sold off to some new owners. Sadly the new owners would find out that they had bought the company at the worst time possible, for on 23 March 2020, New Zealand would enter a full nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19 that lasted just over a month. The Hobbiton services were cut indefinitely, but service to Great Barrier Island recommenced slowly following easing of restrictions. Fly My Sky operated the only flights to and from Okiwi Airfield as an essential service to that particular location throughout the pandemic. A new route was set up in September of that infamous year. The route was Great Barrier Island (Claris Airfield) to North Shore Airfield, and on 14 September 2020 the first flights commenced.

COVID-19 was the true downfall for Fly My Sky, as the fact that they were based in Auckland meant that they faced 5 different lockdowns over a 1 ½ year period. Sadly, on 29 June 2021, Commercial Helicopters Ltd. was placed in liquidation which caused Fly My Sky to cease operations. The final flight was flight FS15 from Auckland to Great Barrier Island (Claris Airfield) on that same day’s afternoon before returning to Auckland as flight FS9015. It was operated by Islander ZK-SFK (pictured above), and after those two flights, the airline ceased to exist. A tragic fate that ended 23 years of history.

ZK-SFK: 1971 Britten Norman BN-2A-6 Islander | Fly My Sky | Currently: Stored at Ardmore Airport in Auckland, last registered to Auckland Seaplanes Ltd. It has been stored for 7+ months, since at least mid-December 2021.

ZK-EVO: 1976 Britten Norman BN-2A-26 Islander | Fly My Sky | Currently: I’m pretty sure it is registered to Aspiring Air in Wanaka, but I'm not sure of its current operational status.