NZFF

Nelson airline lacks connections
16 November 2006
By HELEN MURDOCH.

Serious doubt surrounds the credibility of a new domestic airline flying out of Nelson.

The man claiming to be behind the venture, Lamar Hargreaves, was yesterday hiding behind the closed curtains of his parents' Chidley Place, Nelson home.

A man at the house denied any connection to Hargreaves or the Hargreaves family when approached by The Press. He was later found to be Hargreaves' father.

In a release to the media, Hargreaves, a web designer and computer programmer, said his Kiwi Pacific Airline would fly passengers to cities and regions from next month. The service, designed to fill the void left by the collapsed Origin Pacific, would offer $99 flights between Nelson and Wellington.

Hargreaves said Kiwi Pacific would use a Boeing 737, a Fairchild Metroliner and a British Aerospace Jetstream for passenger and charter services, and Fokker Friendship aircraft for freight.

He admitted having no experience in the aviation industry and said he started planning the venture only three months ago, but that his venture had the backing of a licensed operator.

However, no-one contacted within the aviation industry has heard of Hargreaves, who refused to name the supporting licensed operator. Hargreaves said he would be speaking to an Auckland-based aviation company, Airwork, the only national carrier able to provide Kiwi Pacific's planned fleet.

Airwork managing director Andrew McMaster said he had not heard of Hargreaves.

While aircraft could be leased internationally, "history showed operators need a fairly substantial amount of money behind them", he said.

Robert Inglis, managing director of the failed Nelson-based Origin Pacific Airways, said Hargreaves' name meant nothing to him.

Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said Hargreaves would need an air operator's certificate, unless he was backed by an existing operator.

"Starting from scratch is an enormously lengthy and costly undertaking," Sommer said.

The landline to Hargreaves' internet service provider company, Supra Ltd, was disconnected and only a message service was available on an 0800 number, provided under Supra's New Zealand Companies Office listing.

Hargreaves was listed as the sole director and shareholder of Supra Ltd.

People in Nelson's internet community who knew of Hargreaves were sceptical of his airline claim.

Hargreaves' press release on the airline follows news this week that the owners of Origin Pacific's former Nelson terminal are talking to parties about leasing the building.

The Honk Group, an Auckland-based investment company, owns the Trent Drive terminal.

Honk Group director Paul Webb said he did not know who Kiwi Pacific was.

Hargreaves said he planned to operate from the terminal but had not discussed the proposal with Honk Group.

A new Nelson-based airline appears unlikely to make it to the skies, with the managing director of the company speculated to be providing the aircraft for the venture denying any knowledge of the new airline.

Press releases were issued earlier this week in the name of Kiwi Pacific, saying the new service would offer passenger, freight and charter services out of Nelson.

The release said the airline would fly British Aerospace Jetstream, Fairchild Metroliner and Boeing 737 aircraft for passenger flights and Fokker Friendship aircraft for freight flights.

Airwork NZ was thought to be involved as it owns the relevant craft, but managing director Hugh Jones told NBR he didn't know anything about Kiwi Pacific.

Mr Jones said Airwork NZ would be the only company in the country who could operate the airlines mentioned.

He was critical of the press release being unattributed. "It's a joke, isn't it."

Mr Jones said if everyone who said they were going to start an airline in New Zealand started one: "there'd be airlines all over the place."

According to The Press, the owner of the company behind the Kiwi Pacific website is Lamar Hargreaves, a Nelson web designer who has gone into hiding from the media.

Mr Hargreaves said his venture had the backing of a licensed operator but refused to name them

ID: 124
Name: Mark XXXXXXXX
City/State: Kerikeri, Northland
Country: New Zealand
Email: nochance.com
Interests: FS6 & 5.1 . I'll fly any interesting plane. I'm a member of V.A. Kiwi Pacific Airlines. I have a PPL, nearly 200 hours, and enjoy being able to get a little "loose" with FS, things you can't do in real life! I've dabbled with repainting planes ( for Kiwi Pacific ).

Flying with the big boys
26 November 2006
By GARRY SHEERAN

You can bet on it - New Zealand will have a new regional airline soon, but it will not be called Kiwi Pacific.

Nelson teenager Lamar Hargreaves' claim that he was starting a new passenger airline of that name next month is now being dismissed by industry players as a "near-hoax".