Airport seeks financial support
New Plymouth’s airport has asked for a short-term $2.6 million loan increase from the district council as it battles through coronavirus restrictions.
The new $28 million terminal opened on March 17, and just over two weeks later it was closed with the country in lockdown and no flights coming in or out.
On April 20, airport company Papa Rererangi i Puketapu (PRIP) chief executive Wayne Wootton, with the support of the board of directors, made a formal request to its sole shareholder — the New Plymouth District Council — for financial support in light of the negative impacts it is suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.
‘‘This support is needed to ensure that New Plymouth Airport is ready and able to safely manage air services once operations restart,’’ the report to councillors said.
If approved, it will allow the council’s chief executive to amend an agreement, increasing a current working capital loan by $2.6 million to $5.6 million.
The company’s cashflow report, which councillors will consider at Tuesday’s extraordinary meeting, predicts a shortfall of $640,000 in May, $720,000 in June and $1.45m in July.
This is calculated with underlying assumptions, including that operating costs for quarter four of the financial year have been reduced by about 40 per cent, including all staff and directors agreeing to a 20 per cent reduction in salaries and fees.
The figures also assume flights resume towards the end of quarter four, increasing at a steady rate to around sixty per cent of prepandemic levels by June 2021; and all programmed capital expenditure projects remain as planned on the basis that this work will generate employment for the construction industry.
The request will be considered as part of NPDC’s $20m Get Us Back on Our Feet package.
PRIP has also requested longterm assistance. Council officers will investigate options to present to council at its June meeting.
The airport has remained closed at alert level 3 but Wootton said flights could resume from May 18 depending on the Government’s decision on the alert levels.