Kapiti f lights being readied for takeoff
Ka¯ piti Coast District Council will pay a private airline to resume flights between Paraparaumu and Auckland.
In a decision made yesterday behind closed doors, the council members voted unanimously to subsidise Air Chathams to help get direct flights off the ground again.
Ka¯ piti Mayor K Gurunathan confirmed the council would pay $150,000 over the next three years for marketing.
But the full amount of the ratepayer subsidy would not be known until negotiations with Air Chathams were completed over the next few weeks.
Gurunathan would not comment on the rest of the subsidy but said the council would try to minimise its impact on ratepayers.
‘‘We have given the chief executive carte blanche to negotiate so I cannot give those details.’’
In March, Air New Zealand announced it was axing its service between Paraparaumu and Auckland, prompting fears it could spell the end for the privately owned Ka¯ piti Coast Airport.
The news caused a national outcry. Regional Development Minister Shane Jones accused the airline of abandoning the regions and Gurunathan said it left his district vulnerable in a disaster.
Yesterday, Gurunathan said he did not expect the process with Air Chathams to be smooth sailing but he was confident most Ka¯piti residents would support the proposal.
‘‘We’re trying to work it so it doesn’t impact on ratepayers, some of it is budget we already have.’’
He hoped some of the billondollar-a-year Regional Development Fund would help the airline – a service he said was critical to the district.
Asked if it was unusual for the council to fund a privately owned business, Gurunathan said the community had every right to disagree but he believed the majority would support the move.
Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke criticised the council’s decision, calling it ‘‘a classic case of corporate welfare’’.
‘‘The council has turned Air Chathams, a private, profitable business, into a charity case,’’ said Houlbrooke.
‘‘Air New Zealand clearly decided the airline was too expensive to maintain but apparently good business sense goes out the window when it’s the council spending ratepayer money.’’
‘‘A classic case of corporate welfare.’’ Taxpayers Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke