22 Mar 2021

Air services 'hanging on by their fingernails'

From Midday Report, 12:42 pm on 22 March 2021

Commercial air services hanging on by their fingernails are thankful the Government will continue supporting air freight. 

The scheme, which started last May, has supported 6000 flights carrying $8 billion worth of airfreight weighing more than 120-thousand tonnes. Today, the Government's set aside $170 million for the scheme to continue until the end of October. 

The Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand's executive director Justin Tighe-Umbers told Māni Dunlop the scheme would keep the planes flying, but a trans-Tasman bubble was still essential.