Cheap-flight adverts row back in court

Air New Zealand is facing 20 sample charges of breaching the Fair Trading Act.

Air New Zealand is back in court defending the way it advertises cheap air fares.

The Commerce Commission said the airline breached the Fair Trading Act and misled customers when it advertised cheap airfares without properly showing extra fees, surcharges and add-ons.

It is facing 20 sample charges of breaching the act. The commission says it broke the law in 355 newspaper advertisements.

The case resumed yesterday in the Auckland District Court after a five-month adjournment.

An Air New Zealand expert witness, Roderick Brodie, a professor of marketing at Auckland University, outlined his ideas about consumer buying behaviour and decision-making.

He said the behaviour of consumers when planning an overseas trip was complex, so had a "high level of involvement".

Complexity came from buying "multiple services" such as accommodation, car rentals and airport transfers. In many cases, travel was a new experience, so there would be a need to gather information about what was involved so comparisons could be made about alternatives.

Travellers were motivated to put "considerable time into searching for the best possible deal and value for money".

This argument over how to advertise airfares has been making its way through the court system for three years. Qantas is watching the case closely, as it is likely to be next in court defending its advertising, should the commission succeed here.

If convicted, Air New Zealand is liable for a fine of up to $100,000 for most of the charges and another $200,000 for the 126 charges relating to advertisements that ran after July 2003, when the maximum fines were raised.