from the Radio NZ site
The direct Paraparaumu to Auckland service is at “significant risk” if the loan goes into default.
Airline chief executive Duane Emeny said the loan would be repaid and asked for a 10-business day extension to work out a payment plan, but warned there was “a significant risk” to the direct Paraparaumu to Auckland service if the council chose to declare the loan in default.
The council agreed to the interest‑free loan in November 2020, during the Covid‑19 pandemic, to help the airline restart flight operations. It came on top of a separate $20,000 Covid‑19 support grant.
A proactively released response to a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) request in late 2025 said the council agreed to extend the original repayment date of November 22, 2025 to May 2026. In response to a separate LGOIMA request earlier this month, the council said the repayment date was “end May 2026”.
“Air Chathams’ argument is that we’ve continued to provide an air service for five years through the most challenging times in regional aviation, and the money that we’ve lost in doing that is significantly more than the money that you’re owed,” Emeny told Local Democracy Reporting on Wednesday.
“That’s your decision as a council to make and, if that’s the case, then we’ll work through it. But what I would say is there’s a significant risk to the air service continuing if they choose that path.”
We have followed this sorry saga for the last 6 years and have to say it’s the issue — among several contenders — on which KCDC has been the most secretive. —Eds