Stranded 19 days but again missed seats

Press, 4 March 1981, Page 6

Stranded 19 days but again missed seats

I By LES BLOXHAM I travel editor I A Sydney’ woman and he f brother who have bee: j stranded for 19 days in Nev I Zealand by the Qantas dis I pure missed by minute. 1 I yesterday an almost certair I chance of getting seats or | one of the R.A.A.F. special r flights from Wigram tc ► Queensland. ( Mrs G. Crago. her year- - old baby, and her brother Mr C. Moody, were originally booked- to return to Sydney with Qantas on February 15. The flight was the first to be cancelled, but they decided to stay in Christchurch for several s days in the hope of getting s standby seats. They gave up I and returned with their | father, Mr J. ,\loodv. to the ’ family home at Alexandra. | According to Mr Moody I Air New Zealand called | Alexandra on February 23 | and advised the travellers s that they stood a good chance of getting a flight to • Australia the next dav. Mr Moody drove his son. daughter. and grandchild to Christchurch only to find that the flight had been cancelled. j 1 hey stayed overnight and waited until late the next day before acknowledging that there - was still little chance of getting on to a flight. Mr Moodv sen. then drove them back to Alexandra. Yesterday he made his third trip to Christchurch, arriving at the airport only minutes after the last stand-! by seats for (lights had been allocated. Last evening Mrs Crago and her brother were planning to spend the night at the, airport, confident that their names would be high, on the priority list for spare seats on Air New Zealand’s! flight to Sydney today. Among those who did get away on the Air Force! flights yesterday was a Bris-i bane pensioner, Mr Alfred: Scott, who had been waiting; ir. vain for a spare seat' since February 20. His extra 12 days in Christchurch cost him “'veil over $400.” Mr and Mrs J. E. Butler received a call at 3.20 p.m. advising they could get on! the flight if they were at the airport at 3.50 p.m. Mrs But--;-ler had to pick up her son I;

from school, notify her husband who was attending a meeting in the city, and then finish packing. “All I re-

imember is Dad saying I only had seven minutes left. >r 'We’ll never make it.’ I n thought. But we did. It was ; ,v marvellous news, for we faced the' prospect of paying -$ an extra $6OO for first-class ( n seats on the only available n flight next week,” said Mrs j (] Butler. 0 Thanks to the Royal Australian Air Force. Mrs L. ■_ Chamberlain, of Aranui, will ‘ ~ be reunited with her hits- • !. band in Brisbane after an 1 [. absence of more than two I ’ months. The Chamberlains 1 e have moved to Australia and 1 , Mrs Chamberlain was origin nally booked on a flight on c I February 20. _ t 0 As passengers on the Air t ’ Force flights are restricted t to only one suitcase and one s f other small piece of hand r " baggage, Qantas is being s

forced to arrange the f or< warding of surplus luggage when space on commercial aircraft permits. Travellers on these flights are also unable to carry duty-free goods bought in New Zealand. They are ob. taining refunds. Air New Zealand and Qantas will probably refund, the difference in the cost of a first-class and economy, class fare to those passengers holding first-class tickets who have travelled fn the Hercules. “Most people are usually i only too pleased to be getting home, but in all fairness the service and comfort offered are not quite th e same as the first-class treatment we offer,” an airline spokesman said.