New Zealand News

The group absorbed additional capacity of 8. 9% in the June 1993 year.

While Air New Zealand continued to out perform most of its international industry colleagues, said the chairman, Mr Bob Matthew, the financial returns were short of those reward risk capital investors appropriately and to finance further growth. He said he was looking for a 3 to 5% increase in return on investment.

Air New Zealand’s share of the total domestic passenger loadings rose from 56. 5% to a “still inadequate 5996, resulting in a modest profit. Full time staff totalled 6861 (1992: 7262). The use of part time and temporary staff to service the airline’s 24 hour business was expected to remain a feature of the airline’s workforce.

The group is looking for more growth in passenger traffic from most of the Asian origin markets this financial year. However only modest passenger growth is expected for Britain, European and United States inbound traffic.

Air New Zealand expects little if any growth in New Zealand, trans Tasman and other outbound New Zealand and Australian traffic markets.

$200,000 Written Off

The CAA has had a policy of providing limited, essential services to companies still owing cash. Those companies would now get full service, said Mr Ward.

More Flights to Australia and USA

From this month Air New Zealand has added extra flights to Australia and the USA to cover the shortfall left by the departure of Continental Airlines.

Air NZ’s managing director, Jim McCrea, says the new services will add about 2600 seats a week. About 1000 of these extra seats would be between Australia and New Zealand. To complement more passenger services, there would be several dedicated cargo services to Australia and the USA in the next two months, assisting exporters.

Boeing Aircraft Part Corroded

Air New Zealand has introduced a better anti-corrosion scheme following the inspection of parts of Boeing 737 nose landing gear.

Corrosion of a landing wheel rod caused the fault that prompted an ANZ 737 flight crew to make an emergency landing at Wellington airport, an investigation has found. into place for takeoffs and landings- had corroded through. Air New Zealand has 12 737s and the airline says its anti-corrosion programme now includes more frequent inspections of the nosewheels and the use of improved anti rust paint. The investigation followed problems with the landing gear of a 737 operating from Auckland to Wellington when it The end of the rod-used to lock the aircraft’s nosewheel was carrying 102 passengers. The aircraft circled Wellington for 45 minutes and passengers braced themselves during the emergency landing. Fire engines and ambulances were on alert.

heard a bang when the wheels were retracted on takeoff from According to a Civil Aviation Authority report, the 737 crew Auckland. While approaching the New Zealand capital the pilot’s controls indicated the aircraft’s nosewheel had not locked into place after being lowered. Using a mirror system, peared to be locked the crew checked that the nose wheel was down.

The CAA says the corrosion caused a complete break in the rod and “prevented complete locking” of the wheel. An authority official said there was no suggestion the landing gear could have buckled during the landing.

Flying Campaign’s Slow Takeoff

Aviation industry leaders are reassessing a $NZ1m marketing plan to get more people flying.

The Air Mark campaign had aimed to boost the aviation industry’s revenue by more than $NZ30m a year. But eight months after its launch, the campaign has not taken off.

Tom Riddell, the Aviation Industry Association’s executive director, says only 22 aviation companies had signed up and The Civil Aviation Authority is writing off a $NZ200,000 paid subscriptions. The industry had hoped to have 122 debt owed to it by the aviation industry.

The debt was run up by a disgruntled aviation industry three years ago when the previous Labour Government sought more funding from industry for the Ministry of Transport. Some aviation companies withheld fees totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Government was forced to lower the charges by 15% Although the CAA was set up only last year, it incurred the debt from the former Ministry of Transport’s air division. The authority’s safety director, Kevin Ward, said the debt has slowly reduced since 1990 to about $NZ200,000. It was not known how high the debt was three years ago or how many companies still owed money.

“The debt won’t affect our balance sheet because we took it into account when the CAA was set up,” said Mr Ward. companies halfway through the promotion.

Under the scheme, newspaper, TV and radio advertisements would interest more people to take up flying-either as passengers or training as pilots.

Briefs

A vintage once described as “malodorous” and banned. from export recently helped Air New Zealand to win an international wine competition. Martinborough Vineyard’s 1991 pinot noir took first place in a section of the Cellar in the Sky contest, which Air New Zealand won easily.

• A doctor’s thermometer caused a major alert at Auckland airport when mercury was found in the sealed baggage hold of an Ansett aircraft. A Fire Service officer said the mercury was believed to have come from a doctor’s thermometer.