The Saab fleet soon grew to one of the largest in the world at that time and Air Nelson divested itself of its smaller aircraft, operating only the Saab. This was in line with Air New Zealand's policy of rationalising the overall cost of fleet maintenance. Eagle Airways soon operated a fleet of Beechcraft 1900Ds, while Mount Cook Airlines operated the ATR 72-500. Full Air New Zealand ownership Air New Zealand took 100% ownership of Air Nelson in 1995. The last Saab 340A aircraft had been withdrawn from service by the end of 2007. The company had 23 Dash 8 Q300 aircraft. Air Nelson was the largest singular operator of the Q300 outside Canada. Although Air Nelson looked towards ATR for the smaller ATR 42, Bombardier offered a better discount for a bulk purchase. The increase in fleet size allowed Air New Zealand to start pioneering longer provincial routes that were considered sustainable with 50-seat aircraft, such as Wellington to Invercargill, New Plymouth and Tauranga to Christchurch. Air New Zealand has also used the Q300 to ramp up a more intensive high-frequency regional service allowing more departure choices. A new Paraparaumu to Auckland route was started in 2011. A second route from the Kapiti Coast was opened in 2013, Paraparaumu to Christchurch, but it could not be sustained and the short-lived service ceased in 2015. The Hokitika–Christchurch route joined the Air Nelson network as a result of the Pike River coal mine disaster in November 2010 when Air New Zealand added capacity to the Westland town. This became permanent in February 2011 when subsidiary operator Air National was grounded by the NZCAA due to irregularities with operating practises. The larger aircraft proved popular on peak services to the West Coast airport, which also serves the town of Greymouth. In November 2014, Air Nelson started to take over services from fellow subsidiary Eagle Airways after parent company Air New Zealand had announced the close-down of the airline by August 2016. Routes including Auckland–Taupo, Auckland–Whanganui, Hamilton – Palmerston North, Wellington–Gisborne, Wellington–Timaru, Wellington – Palmerston North and Christchurch–Blenheim joined the Air Nelson network as a result of Eagle Airways' closure. Air New Zealand immediately reviewed and closed down the Auckland–Hamilton, Auckland–Whanganui and Christchurch–Blenheim routes. Some routes were picked up by second-tier operators. In 2018 Air New Zealand announced that the Auckland–Paraparaumu route was to close due to aircraft scheduling issues. After intense lobbying