A breath of hope for Qantas NZ

A ray of hope exists for 1100 airline staff with signs that Qantas Airways will take over its New Zealand franchise, which went into receivership in the early hours of Saturday.

But the new operation is unlikely to re-employ all the Qantas New Zealand staff laid off, or fly all the routes of the old airline.

The New Zealand manager of Qantas Airways, Peter Collins, will meet Transport Minister Mark Gosche in Wellington today to discuss the Australian airline's plans to fly domestic routes in New Zealand.

The meeting, scheduled some time ago, follows a tumultuous week in the skies on both sides of the Tasman.

It started with Ansett Australia domestic aircraft being grounded, and finished with Qantas New Zealand being placed in receivership at 3.25 am on Saturday.

Tasman Pacific, the company that had been flying as Qantas New Zealand for less than a year, collapsed with debts believed to be about $20 million.

Distraught staff, including 140 pilots and 180 cabin crew, learned the bad news when they started arriving for work at 5.30 am.

Mr Gosche, who last week granted Qantas Airways approval under an open skies agreement with Australia to fly domestically, said the Government would do all it could to help Qantas.

"I think we will see something emerge from the gap that's there, but we won't know what it is for a while."

Qantas Airways spokesman Michael Sharp said that after failing to negotiate a deal with Tasman Pacific in several weeks of talks, the company had several options. But it was too early to be more specific.

Air New Zealand spokesman David Beatson said he would be surprised not to see Qantas Airways run some domestic services in New Zealand in the "very near future."

But Australian aviation industry expert Peter Harbison said that while Qantas might re-enter the New Zealand market it would probably be on a "selective" level, using some of the marketing and sales staff and some of the infrastructure.

Air New Zealand shifted thousands of extra passengers at the weekend as the school holidays ended, and is putting on 50 extra flights today to move the Monday business crowds.

The worst delays occurred at Christchurch, with 60 passengers stranded overnight on Saturday. Another 40 were taken by bus to Dunedin after alternative flights could not be arranged.

Twelve thousand Qantas New Zealand customers called an 0800 helpline on Saturday alone.

Mr Collins said Qantas Airways would honour all tickets issued by Qantas New Zealand by paying for rescheduled flights, giving refunds or paying for alternative travel.

Qantas Airways was already helping Air New Zealand by carrying passengers affected by the grounding of Ansett Australia jets.

Qantas Airways hoped some of its aircraft would be in New Zealand by tomorrow to help move passengers, he said.

"If the Ansett thing hadn't happened, the planes could have been here much earlier, but it's one of those things where it has all happened at once."

Tasman Pacific is a consortium of mainly wealthy New Zealand businessmen, including Alan Gibbs and Trevor Farmer (net worth $200 million each), Dunedin fishing magnate Sir Clifford Skeggs, Chris Coon and Ian Hendry, who built up Sovereign Insurance, and former Noel Leeming managing director Greg Lancaster. Australian investors include former News Corporation executive Ken Cowley and media mogul Kerry Stokes.

They bought Ansett New Zealand for $36.5 million in March 2000.

Receiver Michael Stiassny, of Ferrier Hodgson, said he hoped to have a clear picture of Qantas New Zealand's financial plight by the end of this week. It would be a "significant loss."

Tasman Pacific shareholders limited their response to a one-page press release saying they were "deeply disappointed" at the collapse. The low New Zealand dollar and rising fuel prices had created difficult trading conditions.

The statement said the shareholders had felt positive about the airline's survival and the receivership had gone ahead despite their willingness to inject further capital.



"However, notification [on Friday] by Wellington Airport that they were not prepared to allow Qantas New Zealand planes to land from next Monday left us with no alternative but to advise our bankers of this situation."

Wellington Airport chairman Phil Walker said it was wrong to blame the airport - other factors were responsible.

When the airport learned on Thursday that Qantas Airways had broken off talks with Tasman Pacific, the airport company took steps to recover $750,000 in unpaid landing fees.

Mr Walker said Tasman Pacific was notified at 3 pm on Friday that the airport would withdraw services such as airbridges, check-in counters and baggage systems from Monday next week.

The company had said it would announce this tomorrow to give the public ample warning and minimise inconvenience to passengers.

He said the airport was never going to stop Qantas New Zealand aircraft landing or taking off.

The chief executive of the Consumers Institute, David Russell, said the flying public was potentially the big loser.

What Qantas New Zealand passengers need to know

* Call 0800 726-827 to reschedule with another airline.

* For a refund post your ticket or e-ticket receipt and contact details to QFNZ Refunds, PO Box 59 Auckland, by no later than July 31, 2001.

* As long as you arrange a refund or reschedule your flight before July 31, Qantas Airways will foot the bill.

* Qantas frequent flyer points are still valid. Passengers who were rescheduled on another airline should post their ticket butts and boarding passes to the QFNZ Refunds address above.

* Qantas International flights are not affected.

* Qantas Airways will pay for alternative transport for passengers who need urgently to reach their destination.

* Qantas Airways will pay for a hotel and a meal allowance for passengers stranded overnight.