Govt air fare clamp upsets Dutch

Press, 27 August 1977, Page 1

Govt air fare clamp upsets Dutch

By

LES BLOXHAM,

, travel editor

The Government will ban excursion fares between New Zealand and Amsterdam. It is alleged the Dutch airline. KLM, has failed to adhere to the agreement covering the routes which excursion passengers must fly. The agreement, signed by both the Dutch and New Zealand Governments, stipulates that passengers flying on the cheap fares between Europe and New Zealand must fly via Hong Kong or Singapore. They must then continue to Auckland on one of three designated carriers— Air New Zealand, British Airways, or Singapore Airlines. It is alleged, however, that KLM has been carrying these passengers all the way to Sydney, to connect with flights to Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch. This gave the airline by far the biggest bite of the available fare, leaving Air New Zealand and British Airways only a chance of fares on the final, Tasman sector. (Singapore Airlines is not permitted to carry passengers solely between New Zealand and Australia.) Air New Zealand protested to the Government * which, in turn, lodged an (Wr t -

objection with the Dutch Government.

Apparently, no satisfactory solution was reached, and yesterday travel agents throughout New Zealand received advice from Air New Zealand that all excursion fares to Amsterdam would be withdrawn, from Thursday. Effectively the ban will increase the cheapest return fare to the Netherlands by about $BOO. Ordinary economy (and first class) tickets will still be available, but the cost of the former is $l9OO, compared with $lllB for an excursion ticket. The New Zealand manager for KLM (Mr Kenneth Dimsey) said last evening that he would prefer not to comment, particularly as the matter was being handled at a Government level.

However, Mr John de Keijzer, a travel agent who specialises in excursions to the Netherlands, said that the Dutch community would be upset over losing the right to cutrate fares.

“KLM is a very popular airline, not only with New Zealanders of Dutch origin, but also with others who visit Holland for the first time,” he said. “The ban is going to be an extra financial burden for people

w’ho have been saving hard for their holiday.” Although the sale of excursion fares will be banned from Thursday, passengers who already hold tickets will be able to use them, providing that they are for travel before September 30. Mr de Keijzer said the Government’s decision would be particularly tough on those people who held tickets for travel after that date. “We are advising them that they will probably have to fly instead to Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, or London and pay the additional expense of getting from there to the Netherlands.” he said. There is a possibility, however, that the ban may be only temporary. Mr F. D. Norton, chief controller of air services policy with the Ministry of Transport, said that the matter would be discussed by New Zealand and Dutch Government delegates at a meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organisation in Montreal early in October.

He confirmed, also, that the Australian airline, Qantas, had been warned about breaching the excursion agreement.

Qantas, like KLM, was granted approval to carry excursioners from Europe to Singapore, but is not permitted to carry New Zealand-bound passengers into Sydney.