Singapore link announcement ‘premature’

Press, 24 April 1986, Page 2

Singapore link announcement ‘premature’

Wellington reporter The Government’s announcement that Singapore Airlines will fly to Christchurch from early next year is premature, according to the Opposition. Its spokesman on civil aviation, Mr Winston Peters, said the so-called “deal” had been the wrong announcement from the wrong Minister at the wrong time. The announcement was made by the Minister of Tourism, Mr Moore, on Tuesday. On April 16, Singapore Airlines met the Government to try to reach an agreement on direct Singapore - Christchurch flight. Mr Peters said that there was no deal yet and Mr Moore was posturing prematurely. To have gone public when negotiations were so far from complete revealed the Minister’s sad inexperience and went a long way to explain why so many of his so-called “overseas trade deals” had collapsed in the face of reality. Once again he was allowing himself to be carried

away, Mr Peters said. He accused Mr Moore of not telling the public, and the people of Christchurch in particular, the whole story about the Singapore Airlines application. Singapore Airlines had applied for a direct flight from Singapore to Christchurch, with Christchurch, and South Island travellers using Singapore Airlines flying from Christchurch through Auckland back to Singapore. Mr Peters said Mr Moore’s failure to mention that point related to the understandable reluctance of Christchurch travellers to use Auckland as a departure base for overseas travel. Such announcements ought to be left to the Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Prebble, now overseas, because Mr Moore was out of his depth, Mr Peters said. No common ground had been found in the negotiations and, more important, the question of onrights for Air New Zealand to fly to Europe from Singapore was yet to be addressed successfully, he said. What Air New Zealand did not need was a repeat

of its recent experience in the deal with Canadian Pacific. That deal was threatened by the economic viability of the Auck-land-Vancouver route flown by Air New Zealand. The deal had been wrapped up by the Labour Government in just three days of negotiations, whereas similar deals overseas had sometimes taken up to 15 years, Mr Peters said. Canadian Pacific had got from the New Zealand Government what it had wanted; Air New Zealand had been left picking up the crumbs with no onrights to fly from Canada to Europe. “No deal has been completed with Singapore Airlines and premature announcements at this stage can only damage New Zealand’s negotiating position,” he said. The best interests of the Christchurch air travellers, the country and Air New Zealand, had yet to be served, Mr Peters said. The Under-Secretary for Transport, Mr Bill Jeffries, said the Government had sought from Singapore on-flight rights giving access to Britain and Europe, with a Middle-East stopover. Singapore Airlines could have direct access to the South Island if Air New Zealand acquired these reciprocal on-flight rights, he said. He was optimistic that a satisfactory agreement -.could be reached after talks resumed in June. Mr Peters had said that at the end of the day Singapore Airlines had got what it wanted and Air New Zealand had not. Mr Jeffries said that was incorrect because the end of the day had not been reached yet.