Public to Air New Zealand: Ditch Ansett

Friday 13th July 2001

By Deborah Hill Cone

A new poll out today suggests strong public backing for an Air New Zealand deal that raises cash by restructuring Ansett Australia rather than lifting the foreign ownership cap.

Air NZ is presenting a formal proposal to the government today to rethink the 25% threshold limiting a single foreign airline's stake in the carrier but the public mood reflected in the latest National Business Review-Compaq poll shows most people are hostile to the suggestion.

Sixty-three per cent oppose the government allowing either Singapore Airlines (SIA) or Qantas to own up to 49% of Air NZ. What is likely to be more palatable to the public would be the kind of deal hinted at by Finance Minister Michael Cullen in Singapore on Wednesday that would revolve around loss-making Ansett Australia.

Dr Cullen told a business council breakfast meeting it would probably be "very, very difficult" to go with the Air NZ proposal to allow SIA to raise its interests further.

"It really lies in how important Ansett is to Air NZ's future," Dr Cullen said. The proposal to lift the ownership cap was based on the premise Ansett was of strategic importance to Air NZ.

"Is that assertion really true? It is a commercial decision," he said.

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