Air Charter ‘not daunted’

Press, 13 October 1982, Page 2

Air Charter ‘not daunted’

Air Charter Christchurch. Ltd, will not be daunted by the latest rebuff it has had from the Air Services Licensing Authority, which yesterday declined scheduled and non-scheduled service applications by the company.

Mr P. K. Wakeman, of Air Charter, said yesterday that the company would make a further application to the Authority, after yesterday's "disappointing” decision. However, he said it might be some time before a further application could be heard by the Authority.

Mr Wakeman said that the decision would not affect the running of the business very much, but it would affect promotion of the business.

The Authority heard an application on Monday by Air Charter to run a scheduled service from Christchurch to Queenstown and non-scheduled services from Christchurch-Milford Sound and Milford-Queens-

town-Christchurch. These parts of the application were declined.

The Air Charter application was opposed by the Mount Cook Group. The Authority’s chairman. Mr J. H. O. Tiller, said that the three Authority members were in "agreement with the Mount Cook Group when it said that business out of Milford • Sound was best suited to an air taxi or air charter service, something Air Charter was already licensed to do. Mr Tiller said that the onus was on Air Charter to show that the new services were both necessary and desirable and that, there had been a material change of circumstances since the last application.

“There has been no evidence that the Mount Cook Group is not supplying a reasonable service,” . Mr Tiller said. There had been a total absence of complaints about the existing ser-

vice. Mr Tiller said that even one or two complaints would have been no more than would be expected in the transport industry.

In the seven months that Air Charter ran nonscheduled round-trip flights from Christchurch to Milford Sound, Queenstown, and return there had been only 19 flights on which 76 passengers had been carried, Mr Tiller said.

“This is significantly below what we would expect to justify scheduled or nonscheduled operations," he said.

Mr Tiller referred to the 21 letters produced in evidence by Mr Wakeman in support of the application by Air Charter.

“These were practically all couched in the most general terms with little or no regard for the existing Mount Cook services,” Mr Tiller said. Mr- Wakeman had earlier agreed that the

letters were received by Air Charter in response to a circular.

The company had its application to extend its fleet granted in part, permission being given by the Authority to add one PA 28 (Piper Archer) aircraft, with three passenger seats, to the existing four aircraft in the fleet.

Mr Tiller said that the company had only one fulltime pilot and that in the year ended March 31, 1982, three of the four aircraft had been used for a total of 232 hours flying, “well below the economic hours for one aircraft." v

The part of the application applying for the addition of a 8E76 aircraft, also containing seats for three passengers, was declined. Air Charter now has a passenger capacity of 25 over its five aircraft.

An application by counsel for the Mount Cook Group, Mr P.. H. B. Hall, for costs was refused by Mr Tiller.