Aussie-city flights just 'pipe dream'

BY EVAN HARDING

Attracting airlines to fly the trans-Tasman route between Australia and Invercargill would be extremely difficult to achieve, the Dunedin Airport boss believes.

Chief executive John McCall yesterday gave a reasonably blunt assessment when asked whether Invercargill was wasting its time trying to secure trans-Tasman flights.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say they are wasting their time but if they want to persist with this, it's going to be very, very, very hard work."

Mr McCall's comments follow confirmation this week startup airline Pacific Wings has pulled out of negotiations to fly the trans-Tasman route to Invercargill.

It was understood to be the fourth airline to consider flying between Invercargill and Australia in recent years before opting out.

Dunedin had been hosting trans-Tasman flights for 15 years and it was hard to attract airlines to the city and hard to keep them, Mr McCall said.

"It's an extremely tough market, and yields for the airlines are very low because of the competition that exists, therefore you need high (passenger) volume on both sides of the Tasman.

However, his comments didn't wash with Norman Elder, the chairman of the Invercargill City Council-owned holding company, Holdco, which led the latest failed bid to bring an airline to the south.

"He would (say that), wouldn't he, considering he gets about 40 per cent of our air traffic now," Mr Elder said.

Departure-card information revealed a large proportion of travellers who flew out of Dunedin and Queenstown were Southlanders, with Mr Elder saying he was confident its figures justified trans-Tasman flights in and out of Invercargill.

Mr McCall said a region needed to be a "destination" to attract passenger traffic. "Look at Dunedin. Even with its university and its strong tourism product, it's still very, very hard work."

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, who was the main driver behind the Invercargill Airport runway extension being built to accommodate international flights, said the aviation industry was always changing and the runway was there forever.

Prime Minister John Key had raised the possibility of the trans-Tasman route becoming a domestic service that, if implemented down the track, would save costs such as security and customs services, the mayor said.

Meanwhile, Mr McCall has welcomed a call from Mr Shadbolt for the Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown airports to work closer together, saying he was keen to do so on a tourism promotion level, "but that doesn't mean Invercargill will get international flights".

- © Fairfax NZ News