Paul Phelan/CAIRNS
Qantas New Zealand was shut down overnight on 20 April when the Auckland-based franchise carrier went into receivership. New Zealand's Tasman Pacific Airways had recently acquired the former Ansett New Zealand from News Ltd for NZ$36.5 million ($15 million), re-branding it under a franchise agreement with the Australian flag-carrier.
The collapse, triggered by Wellington Airport's demand for more than NZ$750,000 owed by Tasman Pacific, left 12,000 passengers stranded. Air New Zealand (ANZ), which already has around 65% of domestic traffic, scheduled extra flights to move the backlog, while Qantas established a stopgap domestic service in New Zealand using its own capacity. Australian cut-price carrier Virgin Blue is also pressing to fill the void - a move scorned by Qantas chief Geoff Dixon.
"The sun will cease to set the day Virgin Blue flies the Tasman and flies in New Zealand," he says. "Even they are not that stupid."
Qantas has ruled out a further franchise, but is considering options which include permanent Qantas capacity on New Zealand domestic routes, establishing a domestic airline similar to its wholly-owned Australian regionals, mirroring its wet-lease arrangements with Adelaide-based National Jet Systems, or abandoning its New Zealand ambitions.
Qantas, which held no shares in Tasman Pacific, had already been investigating options to keep its troubled franchisee flying, but negotiations broke down over the retirement of Tasman Pacific's debt. Flights ceased the same day.
"It's a very, very small market," says Dixon. "Canada's got one airline for 30 million people. I'm not sure that New Zealand, with three million, could sustain three. We're not in a hurry. If we want to start an airline over there we'll be able to do that. It would be a full Qantas operation, but we haven't decided whether we will or not."
Qantas New Zealand had been flying eight British Aerospace 146-300s, two Bombardier Dash 8-300s, and five Dash 8-100s. It employed 1,100 staff including 140 pilots and 180 cabin crew. The 146 fleet, leased to Tasman Pacific by the ANZ-Ansett group, is back in the hands of its owners, who plan to take a decision on its deployment shortly. The leases were negotiated last year, before News Ltd completed the sale of its 50% interest in Ansett to ANZ, and of its 100% interest in Ansett New Zealand to Tasman Pacific.
Receiver Michael Stiassny says Tasman Pacific will not be sold as a going concern. "We're looking at an asset sale," he says. "We won't need the staff for the long term."
Source: Flight International
