Airline creditors eye united action

By DANIEL RIORDAN aviation writer

Creditors of Tasman Pacific (alias Qantas New Zealand) plan to join forces to try to get their own liquidators appointed to the failed airline.

Last Friday, Tasman Pacific's sole shareholder, Zazu, put the company into liquidation, heading off three separate liquidation attempts by creditors.

Two of those attempts - led by valet parking company Base Care and inflight catering product maker DeSter - were due to be heard yesterday in the High Court at Auckland.

But they were withdrawn after the court ruled the liquidators chosen by Zazu - Jeff Meltzer and Arron Heath, of Meltzer Mason Heath - had been appointed correctly.

Another creditor, NZ Customs, which had its hearing set down for June 28, also withdrew its action.

Insolvency expert Bernard Montgomerie, whose firm Montgomerie & Associates is representing Base Care, said his client, DeSter and Customs were considering joining forces. Inland Revenue may also be part of the action.

The creditors are concerned that the liquidators appointed by Zazu may not be dogged enough in their investigation of Tasman Pacific's collapse, given that Tasman Pacific's directors are all directors of Zazu.

Base Care chief executive Colin Anderson said he had made a formal request on Wednesday to the liquidators for a meeting. He understood about a dozen of the 20 or so creditors he has been talking to as part of his action had done the same.

None of the major creditors is included in those numbers. Mobil, which is estimated to be owed about $8 million, is understood to be taking legal advice on its options.

A liquidator has 10 working days from the date of the creditors' request to call a meeting, and has to provide five working days' notice to creditors of the date, time and place of the meeting.

Mr Anderson said the liquidator is also required to provide a full list of creditors and amounts owing within five working days of being appointed. Mr Meltzer and Mr Heath were appointed on June 8.

Mr Anderson said he would be busy in the lead-up to the meeting. "There's a lot of hard work to go into it now before then. We have to get the message out to all the small creditors who had given up hope to get on board. There's a lot out there we don't know about."

One option for creditors was to form a committee of liquidators, which presumably would include Mr Montgomerie and the insolvency expert heading the DeSter action, David Crichton, of Christchurch-based Crichton Horne & Associates.

Tasman Pacific collapsed almost two months ago owing creditors perhaps as much as $100 million.

Tasman Pacific's directors have promised to attend a creditors' meeting.

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