Mt Albert Grammar soccer coach Kevin Fallon was not joking when he told organisers of next week's premier tournament in Napier that he and his players would be flying in by private jet on Sunday.

No long, drawn-out bus trip for the defending champions who last year made the journey south in two mini-buses.

The flight to the Lotto Sports Premier tournament at Park Island was promised as part of a sponsorship deal the Emerald Group made with the school a month ago....

Nelson-based regional airline Origin Pacific has cut its fleet as it seeks a capital injection of several million dollars.

Origin says three smaller leased aircraft are no longer in its fleet, which it is rationalising around a 29-seat model.

Airline founder Robert Inglis says he was in Singapore last week talking to potential investors, as well as others in this country....

Air New Zealand today announced it would support Origin Pacific customers in the event the regional carrier decides to terminate any of its passenger services as it seeks to overcome financial challenges.

Origin�s founder Robert Inglis informed the public yesterday that his airline was in need of a substantial cash injection.

Air New Zealand�s Chief Financial Officer, Rob McDonald, said it appeared Origin would have some tough decisions to make.

�If those decisions mean that some customers see their travel arrangements affected, Air New Zealand will try and accommodate them on its own services, if satisfactory arrangements can be made with Origin,� said Mr McDonald.

ENDS


Note: Air New Zealand (as one of several creditors) supported a restructure plan to keep Origin operating in 2004. Air New Zealand forgave 60 percent of debt and deferred payment of another 40 percent of debt as part of this rescue package.

The Compromise With Creditors Under Part X1V, Companies Act 1993, contains the following statement:

The interests of the travelling public are protected in a number of ways. Payments made for tickets in advance of travel, in cash or by cheque, are held in a separate Trust Account. Tickets paid for by credit card are protected through a credit card merchant agreement, secured under facilities with ANZ. Travel agents who accept bookings are not billed by Origin until the travel has been availed by their customer. Accordingly, any pre-paid travel will be honoured in full by Origin.

Air New Zealand strongly rejects claims that the airline�s pricing policy has contributed to the financial challenges facing Origin Pacific.
The facts are:
Pricing
� The cost of an everyday standard fare on Air New Zealand is undercut by Origin on the routes where we compete. The simple reason is that Air New Zealand recently put up its fares by 10% to recognise the high cost of fuel.

� Air New Zealand�s domestic promotional fares and the recent Grab A Seat initiative, which allow customers to pick up cheap fares to our 26 destinations within New Zealand, involves both competitive and non-competitive routes. The Grab A Seat campaign is stimulating demand on all routes we fly, including those Origin fly.

New Routes
� Air New Zealand�s introduction of non-stop services Nelson-Hamilton and Nelson � Palmerston North is part of a considered expansion to better serve the market. Air New Zealand is carrying exactly the same number of people on these routes directly as previously we were carrying indirectly over Wellington.

� The Nelson to Hamilton and Palmerston North routes represent less than 10 percent of Origin capacity. Origin has carried more people on these routes this year than at the same time last year as the total market has grown due to our initiative.

Support for Origin Pacific
� Air New Zealand (as one of several creditors) supported a restructure plan to keep Origin operating in 2005. Air New Zealand forgave 60 percent of debt and deferred payment of another 40 percent of debt as part of this rescue package.

� Air New Zealand contacted Origin today to discuss what support could be provided to its passengers if any services were cancelled as a result of efforts to reposition the regional carrier.

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"Likewise, we would encourage customers travelling from Heathrow to Los Angeles or Auckland to arrive for their flight up to four hours before departure because it is likely checking in could be slower than normal."

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No electrical or battery-powered items will be allowed in the cabin, including laptops and mobile phones.

Some of the bare essentials permitted by the new rules are pocket-sized purses and wallets, essential travel documents such as tickets, spectacles without the case, contact-lens holders but not bottles of solution, and baby food and nappies.

Parents with infant formula are being told the fluid will be tasted before they can board.

Such items have to be carried in a plastic bag, preferably transparent.

All passengers must be hand-searched and their footwear and all carried items have to be x-rayed.

Regional airline Origin Pacific last night suspended passenger operations, leaving most of its 260 staff without jobs and travellers uncertain whether their tickets will be honoured.

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Air New Zealand has accused Origin Pacific of "abandoning" its stranded passengers and misleading them by telling them that the national carrier would honour their travel arrangements.

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Origin Pacific has announced it is suspending its passenger service operation and has referred its customers to Air New Zealand for their forward travel arrangements.

This advice is premature as Origin is yet to agree arrangements with Air New Zealand for carriage of its customers.

Air New Zealand�s current terms of trade with Origin are payment in advance. Once receiving confirmation of continuation of this arrangement, Air New Zealand will be in a position to reaccommodate Origin�s customers on our services.

Air New Zealand�s Chief Financial Officer Rob McDonald said it was sad to see Origin Pacific�s passenger services suspended, particularly after Air New Zealand (along with other creditors) forgave 60 percent of its debt and deferred payment of another 40 percent of its debt as part of a rescue package for the regional carrier in 2004.


Mr McDonald says with fuel increases of around 80 percent in the past two years and the demand for travel starting to soften it was always going to be difficult for Origin to run a profitable passenger business.

�Unfortunately, a reality of these tough times is that not every airline is going to survive. It was only last month that we saw the national airline of Brazil fail and we have all observed what has happened in the United States with United Airlines, Delta, Northwest, Hawaiian and US Airways all operating under bankruptcy protection in recent years.

�These tough conditions have also seen Air New Zealand having to make some hard decisions, which are reflected in more than 900 job losses in the past year and the recent announcements that we are suspending flights between Auckland and Singapore, Christchurch and Los Angeles and Auckland and Taiwan.�

Meantime, Mr McDonald says Air New Zealand would encourage Origin�s passenger staff who are faced with unemployment, but are keen to continue their aviation career, to contact the airline�s recruitment line on 0800 747 500, although the airline could not make any guarantees of employment

Statement From Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe

Air New Zealand has been in discussions with Origin Pacific from time-to-time in recent weeks on several proposals the regional carrier has put to us to try to assist it to address recent financial difficulties.

Air New Zealand has been unable to accept those proposals for a range of reasons, including our belief that without Commerce Commission authorisation they would have been anti-competitive and unlawful, or they were not in the best interests of Origin's customers.

There was never any arrangement agreed between Origin and Air New Zealand. Origin founder Robert Inglis media statement earlier today claiming Air New Zealand has "gone back on discussions" is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and yet again pass the buck for the predicament of his business.

The quoted statement from Air New Zealand executive Norm Thompson was rejecting a proposal that would have seen Origin pocket some of its customers' money while Air New Zealand provided the services.

In our view the actions of Mr Inglis, who has been vocally supported by Nelson MP Nick Smith, have not been in the best interests of Origin Pacific's customers.

Air New Zealand yesterday sought via a media release to reassure Origin's customers that we would carry them if we could come to a satisfactory arrangement with the regional carrier.

We understand from Origin that it has collected around $1.5 million from 14,000 customers who have not yet travelled on the tickets they have purchased.

Air New Zealand has been trying to establish from Origin what has happened to those funds and why it will not transfer them to us so that we can carry the passengers it has abandoned in such a reckless and cavalier fashion.

I am deeply concerned that Origin chose to put a statement on its website at 8pm yesterday advising its customers arrangements had been made for their carriage with Air New Zealand with the full knowledge this was false and misleading.

Mr Inglis contacted Air New Zealand less than half an hour after the statement had been published on Origin's website asking how we could help his customers.

Then on Radio New Zealand this morning Mr Inglis again highlighted the fact that he had misled his customers when he made the following statement:

"Yesterday afternoon Air New Zealand issued a press statement saying that they would carry Origin passengers dependent on the deal that could be arranged and we attempted to negotiate with Air New Zealand last night and that has not been successful at this stage."

The actions of Mr Inglis have been reckless and we are at a loss to understand why a supposedly solvent company has not confirmed to its customers their position on funds allegedly held in trust. That would at least enable them to make informed decisions on other arrangements.

Mr Inglis comments today that Origin will "do its best to honour" its passengers' fares and that "this may take some time" are cause for concern.

Nor will Mr Inglis clarify whether Origin is in a position to pay its customers' funds to us so that we can fulfil the travel obligations Origin committed to.

In our discussions with Mr Inglis today, we have been left with the clear impression that he expects Air New Zealand to carry his customers at a significant discount so that his firm can pocket some of the customers' money.

Nevertheless, Air New Zealand remains committed to supporting the nation's travellers and the reputation of New Zealand aviation and has made a series of arrangements to assist Origin's customers with special fares. We have also addressed compassionate circumstances where necessary but remain appalled at Origin's disregard for both their obligations to their customers and the availability of the funds they have paid.

ENDS

Three Origin Pacific staff at Hawke's Bay Airport have lost their jobs following the regional airline's collapse yesterday. However, it is understood the three staff were part-time only.

The numbers were reduced back in May 2004 when one Hawke's Bay staffer was laid off as part of 93 made redundant across the country by the struggling airline. At that time Origin Pacific also reduced some services through Hawke's Bay....

The collapse of Origin Pacific's passenger services will be the death of airline competition in the regions, aviation commentator Peter Clark said today.

"I think you will have no competition on your small regional routes," he told Radio New Zealand....

Mike Pero, a 25 per cent shareholder in Origin Pacific, has offered to buy the troubled carrier's airfreight business.

Origin's passenger arm collapsed on Thursday after the company failed in a bid to find at least $5 million in new capital to continue operating.

But Origin founder and managing director Robert Inglis said several parties were interested in buying the freight business and no decision had been made on whether to sell or continue operating it itself....

Airports and travel operators say the latest terrorism scare may cause a short-term drop in international travel.

Don Huse, Auckland International Airport chief executive, said it was possible that news of the foiled plot to explode bombs on trans-Atlantic flights might affect passenger numbers in the short term....

At gates five to eight at Auckland Airport three extra security lanes were set up yesterday for the extra checks needed for passengers travelling to the United States.

Thirty-two extra security staff were carrying out the checks and two explosives detection dogs made their way down the queues.

Four flights left last night for Los Angeles and San Francisco and there were up to 1700 passengers to check through.

Although they had already gone through the airport's usual checks for international flights, the extra checks were needed for items, such as liquids, allowed on flights to other countries but not the US.

Passengers took off their shoes and belts to go through the x-ray machines, and metal detectors were passed over every traveller....