Mayor's pole dance secures $1 airfares

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt danced around a pole and gyrated in front of the nation on television - all in a bid to secure 1000 $1 flights for southerners wanting to travel between Invercargill and Christchurch.

He succeeded and the tickets would go on sale today, Air New Zealand spokeswoman Tracey Palmer said.

She did not reveal at what time.

The mayors of Invercargill, Hamilton, Palmerston North and Dunedin were competing for top honours in the inaugural "Mayor Idol" run by Air New Zealand's grabaseat yesterday.

More than 14,000 votes were lodged nationwide during a polling frenzy, with Mr Shadbolt winning by a small margin over Palmerston North Mayor Jono Naylor.

Mr Shadbolt performed a partial striptease on TV3 to secure the $1 fares for southern travellers.

"They also got us down to the fire brigade to do some pole dancing to show how hot we were and of course I failed at that," Mr Shadbolt said.

"They pulled the hoses out and hosed me down ... but now I am officially the hottest mayor in New Zealand and Invercargill will get 1000 free flights -- 500 out and 500 in." Mr Shadbolt, who was in Wellington yesterday, gained 32 percent of the votes, Mr Naylor 30 percent, Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin 22 percent and Hamilton Mayor Bob Simcock 16 percent.

The enthusiastic support for Mayor Naylor saw his city gain 1000 $20 seats on the Palmerston North-Auckland sector.

Mr Chin, in finishing third, secured 1000 $30 seats between Dunedin and Christchurch, while Mr Simcock, in fourth place, scored 1000 $40 seats between Hamilton and Wellington.

Fares went on sale from midnight last night at grabaseat.co.nz, starting with the $40 fares, and will be staggered throughout the day, working down to the $1 fares.

The grabaseat campaign was designed to highlight Air New Zealand's intention to fly Boeing 737s into at least two of the four regions.

"We're as excited about the prospect of jet services expanding into Invercargill as we are about winning the $1 seats today," Mr Shadbolt said.

The 1000 Invercargill and Christchurch fares selling for $1 are for journeys during the period April 7 to April 27.