Extortionate freight rate hampering trade—claim

Press, 12 May 1987, Page 3

Extortionate freight rate hampering trade—claim

PA Wellington “Extortionate” air freight rates are seriously hampering trade between Australia and New Zealand, says the manager of an Australian electronics company. “Go into the offices of Qantas or Air New Zealand in Wellington with a parcel for Melbourne and you’ll have an arm and a leg ripped off,” said the managing director of Vicom Australia, Mr Russell Kelly. Over-the-counter rates for non-consolidated cargo were about $4 a kilogram, but for consolidated cargo they could go as low as 75c a kilo-

gram. Vicom typically wanted to move a 100 kg package, he said. This small package size meant his business was forced to go to a freight-forwarder if it wanted to take advantage of the lower consolidated freight rates. “Forwarders have the, dual problems of lack of volume and lack of direct flights out of Wellington, which means you can wait for days before a container fills and the consignment leaves,” Mr Kelly said. “The end result is that, for a 3‘/ 2 hour flight, it can take me up to two weeks to receive goods in Melbourne.”

But the cargo manager for Qantas, Mr Gary Hislop, said Mr Kelly should take up the rates he was charged with his freight-forwarder. Mr Hislop said Tasman air freight rates were about the same as similar length journeys in other parts of the world. "If he says it is taking him two weeks to get things, I would suggest he stops using ships. If we took two weeks to get a parcel to Melbourne we would be out of business tomorrow.” The number of Welling-ton-Melbourne flights was entirely dependant on local passenger demand, he said.