Vinyl solution to airport row

Press, 22 September 1987, Page 1

Vinyl solution to airport row

By KAY FORRESTER Homogeneous sheet vinyl is the Christchurch City Council’s solution to a dispute at Christchurch Airport. Tarkett Multi-Flor Granit 409 homogeneous sheet vinyl to be exact, in shades of grey and blue.

The council last evening approved the laying of the vinyl flooring in the domestic baggage claim area. The bulk of the area will be put down, probably in the

next month, in a grey-blue. The perimeter will be marked by a margin of grey. The colour "crisis” arose last week when the rival airlines, Ansett New Zealand and Air New Zealand, which both use the shared baggage claim area, disputed what carpet should be laid.

Ansett triggered the dispute — unwittingly the airline says — by running on its three stripes of blue carpet from its terminal

into the shared area. Ansett says it always carpets its baggage claim areas. Air New Zealand, which gave the council $115,000 worth of its own rust, brown and grey striped carpet for the domestic terminal at Christchurch in May* was not happy about the distinctive Ansett blues in the shared area.

The airline says it did not make the complaint that prompted the airport authority to ask Ansett to lift the carpet

The patchy floor will be covered with new vinyl.

The City Architect, Mr Albert Louman, with whom the colour choice rested, hopes to have the floor covered in a neutral, inoffensive grey-blue within a month. Tenders for the job will close on Friday.

The new flooring will be part of $280,000 of capital work planned on baggage claim this year.