Mike Pero defends Erebus charter flight

Air New Zealand gave Mike Pero no negative feedback about his plans to charter a flight to Antarctica for friends and family of Erebus victims and he even ran the idea past Prime Minister John Key, the businessman says.

The airline said yesterday Mr Pero's plan to charter a flight in January for people who wished to travel to Antarctica to pay their respects was "opportunistic" and timed to cash in on the 30th anniversary of the tragedy in which 257 passengers and crew died.

Mr Pero said he was "deeply disappointed and hurt" by Air NZ's comments.

"Somewhere in the airline something has been misconstrued."

He said he had spoken with the company about his proposal in the last few days.

"It was a pleasant conversation and there was absolutely no suggestion that it was distasteful or disrespectful. In fact I suggested they may like to consider having representation on the flight."

Mr Pero said he also sent a text message to Mr Key for his thoughts and to see if he would he be interested in being on the flight.

His response was: "Hi Mike. In principle that might work. Would be great if it did."

"From that response I thought it seemed logical to proceed," Mr Pero said.

A statement from the prime minister's office said: "The PM received a text message from Mike Pero asking if he would be available to go on a flight, on a Qantas A380, to Antarctica on January 31. The PM wasn't aware of his schedule on that day so he responded that it might work. He added it would be great if it did. That was the full extent of any correspondence between the PM and Mike Pero."

Air New Zealand is taking a limited number of family members on a memorial flight to Antarctica this Saturday on board a United States Air Force C-17 cargo plane.

Victims' families were upset when the airline's plans were revealed, as only five representatives were able to be included, with names drawn from a ballot.

Mr Pero said he was "totally bewildered" by the airline's response but was willing to work with them to resolve any issues.

He said he wants to sell seats to members of the public for between $1399 and $8600.

Any profit would go to children's charity Koru Care.

"This is not a commercial venture. I see the trip as something that I can do to help out a group of people who still want closure 30 years on."

Air New Zealand said it was "deeply disturbed" by the plan.

"The airline finds his announcement three days prior to the anniversary of the tragedy to be nothing more than commercial opportunism of the lowest kind," a statement said.

On November 28, 1979, Air New Zealand DC-10, Flight 901, crashed into Mt Erebus, killing all 257 passengers and crew.

It is New Zealand's worst aviation tragedy.

Mr Pero said his flight would not land in Antarctica but would spend several hours flying over the Mt Erebus region.

He said he had consulted with the airline. Nobody he had spoken to at the airline had expressed concern about his plan, he said.

He had not had any complaints from families about the charter but about a dozen people had already expressed interest in the January 31 flight.

"There was an immediate response. We've got one booking that came out about four minutes after the news."

Kathryn Carter, daughter of pilot Jim Collins, who was killed in the crash, said she and her family did not know enough about the proposal yet to comment.

- The Dominion Post and NZPA