City to Airport ferry services for Wellington?

With the new fully electric ferry Ika Rere entering service on 16 December 2021, Wellingtonians may soon be able to travel from the city to the airport by sea, as there are plans to build two new electric ferries operated by East by West Ferries, who have launched their new fully electric ferry - Ika Rere.

The managing director of East by West Ferries Jeremy Ward, wants to add two more ferries to the fleet, being smaller than Ika Rere, about 16 metres in length and able to carry 40 to 50 passengers, to travel from Queens Wharf in the city centre to the refurbished Miramar wharf located on Miramar Peninsula, using an electric shuttle bus to transport passengers from the wharf to Wellington airport terminal with a travel time of 18 minutes between the city and the airport.

The 'city to airport' ferry service would double as a Miramar Peninsula connection for commuters but also for staff at Weta Digital, who employs more than 2000 people on the peninsula, where approximately half of the staff could use the service. Jeremy Ward predicts this could save up to 200,000 vehicle passenger movements through the Mt Victoria road tunnel every year, reducing the load and therefore extending the lifespan of the tunnel.

A third ferry was an option to operate between Miramar Wharf and Days Bay, connecting Lower Hutt directly to Miramar Peninsula and the airport.