11-02-2008, 10:42 AM
By Ulamila Kurai Wragg in Rarotonga
Friday: October 31, 2008
Air New Zealand has agreed on a December 15 deadline for Samoa and Tonga to decide whether or not they will subsidise weekly flights to Los Angeles, United States.
The airline flies a weekly Auckland/Tonga/Samoa/LA route. Some ttree weeks ago it gave the two countries an ultimatum, to subsidise the leg or they will remove it from March next year because it is no longer sustainable. The countries were given only a few weeks to make a decision.
Not only the airline extended the deadline, they are also drafting a confidential agreement that all parties will have to sign so that no information is given out including data sharing.
Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Misa Telefoni wrote to the airline saying that they cannot put any real value on this route unless comprehensive economic impact studies of the route are completed, which will take at least 6-8 weeks to complete.
The airline’s General Manager Tasman Pacific Airline, Glen Sowry, said they will only continue to sell and market flights from Apia to Los Angeles before the end of the IATA Northern Winter schedule (end of March, 2009), if an agreement is reached.
But failing that, Sowry wrote Telefoni that “Air New Zealand will withdraw the route from sale beyond the schedule change at the end of March, 2009”.
There are three other important dates, leading up to December 15 that the parties have agreed to in a timeline, put forward by Telefoni and agreed to by the airline:
November 17 - final date for exchange of information;
November 25 - meeting in Auckland of Tonga’s Minister of Transport Paul Karalus, Telefoni, the two countries’ separate Consultants/Advisers and Air New Zealand’s negotiating team;
December 9 - Tonga and Samoa put in their proposal to Air New Zealand; and
December 15 - final decision is made.
“It is my considered view that complete transparency with each other in a truly tripartite dialogue, is the only meaningful way forward in this matter. If this is a negotiation, there needs to prevail a common respect for all parties requirements in terms of both information and time,” Telefoni wrote Air New Zealand.
Samoa is going to the discussion table with their proposal to buy seats instead of subsidising the airline where there is a shortfall on the weekly Auckland-Tonga-Apia-LA leg.
Telefoni said the offer by Samoa to purchase seats needs to be part of any negotiations adding they will “not accept Air New Zealand's stock response – ‘it solves nothing, the cost will have to be more than the commercial sale price of tickets’”.
Sowry wrote that Air New Zealand is happy to consider such a proposal as part of the discussion.
Karalus said his country wants to have a good look at the route to see what it means to Tonga and its economy as a whole, not only to tourism but also to our general public.
He is suggesting that Tonga should consider using a high yielding traffic option, that is to encourage Cabinet ministers and Government officials to use the Tonga/Apia/LA route when attending meetings in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Source: http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008...samoatonga
Friday: October 31, 2008
Air New Zealand has agreed on a December 15 deadline for Samoa and Tonga to decide whether or not they will subsidise weekly flights to Los Angeles, United States.
The airline flies a weekly Auckland/Tonga/Samoa/LA route. Some ttree weeks ago it gave the two countries an ultimatum, to subsidise the leg or they will remove it from March next year because it is no longer sustainable. The countries were given only a few weeks to make a decision.
Not only the airline extended the deadline, they are also drafting a confidential agreement that all parties will have to sign so that no information is given out including data sharing.
Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Misa Telefoni wrote to the airline saying that they cannot put any real value on this route unless comprehensive economic impact studies of the route are completed, which will take at least 6-8 weeks to complete.
The airline’s General Manager Tasman Pacific Airline, Glen Sowry, said they will only continue to sell and market flights from Apia to Los Angeles before the end of the IATA Northern Winter schedule (end of March, 2009), if an agreement is reached.
But failing that, Sowry wrote Telefoni that “Air New Zealand will withdraw the route from sale beyond the schedule change at the end of March, 2009”.
There are three other important dates, leading up to December 15 that the parties have agreed to in a timeline, put forward by Telefoni and agreed to by the airline:
November 17 - final date for exchange of information;
November 25 - meeting in Auckland of Tonga’s Minister of Transport Paul Karalus, Telefoni, the two countries’ separate Consultants/Advisers and Air New Zealand’s negotiating team;
December 9 - Tonga and Samoa put in their proposal to Air New Zealand; and
December 15 - final decision is made.
“It is my considered view that complete transparency with each other in a truly tripartite dialogue, is the only meaningful way forward in this matter. If this is a negotiation, there needs to prevail a common respect for all parties requirements in terms of both information and time,” Telefoni wrote Air New Zealand.
Samoa is going to the discussion table with their proposal to buy seats instead of subsidising the airline where there is a shortfall on the weekly Auckland-Tonga-Apia-LA leg.
Telefoni said the offer by Samoa to purchase seats needs to be part of any negotiations adding they will “not accept Air New Zealand's stock response – ‘it solves nothing, the cost will have to be more than the commercial sale price of tickets’”.
Sowry wrote that Air New Zealand is happy to consider such a proposal as part of the discussion.
Karalus said his country wants to have a good look at the route to see what it means to Tonga and its economy as a whole, not only to tourism but also to our general public.
He is suggesting that Tonga should consider using a high yielding traffic option, that is to encourage Cabinet ministers and Government officials to use the Tonga/Apia/LA route when attending meetings in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Source: http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008...samoatonga