Shuttle owner says thanks for the helping hand
STANDING in the rain outside Dunedin Airport on a rather fresh Sunday evening, Divesh Pratap could not wipe the smile from his face.
After a tough few months for the Airport Shuttles Dunedin Ltd manager, he got to thank the Prime Minister in person for the wage subsidy that helped save his business.
Jacinda Ardern arrived about 7.30pm yesterday ahead of a busy day of engagements in the city today.
She will also announce the outcome of Cabinet’s review of the current Covid alert levels during her visit.
She greeted a few fans outside the terminal, stopping to chat to a toddler and her parents, and snapping a selfie with one waiting woman.
Then it was Mr Pratap’s turn. When Covid19 forced the borders to essentially close and domestic travel to drastically drop, demand for airport shuttles bottomed out.
‘‘We went down to absolutely zero,’’ he said.
‘‘The subsidy was the saviour.’’
Without the Government’s wage subsidy, he said he would have had to lay off all of his 22 staff.
‘‘With four weeks of lockdown, the company couldn’t survive.’’
He waited at the airport for Ms Ardern to arrive so he could say thank you. In another bid to show his appreciation, all of his business’ shuttle vans and cars will have Labour campaign branding on them until the election.
‘‘Anything I can do to chip in, to help out.’’
Ms Ardern told him she had been reading that Dunedin Airport traffic was about 40% down due to Covid restrictions, which he said was reflected in his own business.