Melbourne-N.Z. cuts ‘will hurt ski tours’

Press, 10 February 1982, Page 1

Melbourne-N.Z. cuts ‘will hurt ski tours’

By

LES BLOXHAM

travel editor

The South Islands ski industry is likely to be adversely affected’ this coming season by a reduction in air services between Melbourne and Christchurch. Air New Zealand has decided to cut both the frequency and capacity of its service. Where last year it ran two DCIO flights a week, the new winter schedule has been cut back to one on Tuesdays.

Qantas will remain the same, with one Boeing 747 flight each Thursday. The loss of the extra DCIO flight on Saturdays will effectively reduce the number of seat's between Melbourne and Christchurch by about 270. Ski tour operators are not worried by the immediate loss in capacity so much as the withdrawal' of the weekend connection.

Australian employers, who are apparently not’ as flexible as their New Zealand counterparts, .are reluctant to let their employees take their leave from mid-week to mid-week.

They would therefore be

forced to take two weeks leave for one week’s ski-ing in New Zealand or to pay the additional cost of domestic airfares to fly to Christchurch in the weekends via Svdnev or Hobart.

The Mount Cook Group, which is most concerned over the scheduling change, is considering flying their Melbourne-originating ski tours on special fares from Auckland to Christchurch.

“Our people in Melbourne are aghast over the loss of the week-end flight to Christchurch." said the chief executive of the Mount Cook Group (Mr P. S. Phillips). "They report that our ski business there has fallen flat on its face." Mr Andrew Turnbull, of Value Tours, the company that handles the bulk of the Mount Hutt Company’s business. said he believed that the rescheduling could affect the bottom end of the market

- the cheaper week-long ski packages. However, he said that so far there had been no noticeable drop in the firm’s toward bookings. Mr R. N. Banford, managing director of Newmans*

Banford New Zealand Ski Tours, said that he was "greatly worried." While business in Sydney was booming, he said, there was a marked drop in the Melbourne market. “In fact so much so that we have just sent a sales representative across to drum up business by looking into the possibility of arranging a domestic travel deal to channel our clients through Sydney or Hobart." he said. Mr Banford said that the Melbourne connection had always been a problem. "We already have about three groups (averaging about 20 in each) on the waiting list for seats." he said.

A spokesman for Air New Zealand in Auckland said that the problem was a “byproduct" of the company’s changeover from DClOs to an all .747 fleet. '"Unfortunately that transition will not he possible on the Melbourne-Christchurch route until after the deliveryof the filth 747 in September." he said. "Until that time the weekly service would have to be flown by a DCIO. ” However' the airline has scheduled six additional flights on Sundays during the May and August school liolitiavs.

Last year about one third of the South Island's Australian ski market originated in Melbourne.

Mr Phillips said that he intended to raise the problem at the next meeting of the Trans-Tasman Tourism Committee. : .