Court date set to wind up airline

By DANIEL RIORDAN

Two petitions to liquidate Tasman Pacific Airlines (Qantas NZ) will be heard by the High Court on June 14 with a major international company taking aim at the failed airline.

The heavy-hitter creditor is DeSter, ACS Asia & Pacific Company, based in Hong Kong, which supplied cutlery, glasses and cups and other inflight catering products to Qantas NZ.

DeSter is part of the Swedish-based Duni Group, which according to its website has operations in 30 countries with a turnover of around €770 million ($1.56 billion).

Would-be liquidator Bernard Montgomerie, whose firm Montgomerie & Associates is representing a group of creditors headed by valet parking company Basecare, says both petitions to wind up the airline will be heard on the same day.

Mr Montgomerie wouldn't say how many creditors he's representing but they are understood to have claims totalling about $5 million.

It's understood more than 50 creditors - ranging from two owed more than $1 million each to a Dunedin taxi driver owed $5000 - have contacted him, although how many of those are joining the action is unknown.

Mr Montgomerie three weeks ago filed a statutory demand under section 289 of the Companies Act, seeking repayment within 15 working days of a debt of about $120,000 owed to Basecare.

Last week, he filed a second action under section 287(c) of the act, effectively fast-tracking the action.

Mr Montgomerie said that enabled the court to declare that a company is presumed to be unable to pay its debts if someone with a charge over it has appointed a receiver.

That action involved only $39,700 - the amount of Basecare's undisputed claims on Tasman Pacific.

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