Jump gets French help but takeoff still uncertain

A French import and export company is the backer for proposed budget carrier Jump Airlines.

Jump spokesman Steve Mosen said Pericom Group would take a 15 per cent stake in the airline and one of its directors, Marie Durand, would chair Jump's board.

Jump would decide at the end of next month if it would fly New Zealand's main trunk routes, Mosen said.

Jump announced in May that it planned to fly two 189-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Palmerston North from next April.

Mosen rated the chances of Jump taking off as 50-50, hinging on securing final funding from New Zealand investors, which would take until late next month to settle.

"But things are looking up and timing is looking good as well," he said.

"By the end of August we hope to have the funding completed. Once that is done the [aircraft] leasing tenders are completed, and at that stage we can submit our manuals to the Civil Aviation Authority [for certification]."

New Zealand investors would contribute less than 10 per cent of the $15 million in capital, the rest coming from European investors.

A further $3 million to $5 million a year would be needed for growth in the initial years - money Jump expected would come from operations.

Jump would start with two leased 737s, aiming to have seven planes in five years.

Pericom Group did not have specific airline experience, Mosen said, but its "connections have airline experience in terms of financial advice and structural advice".

He had met a number of venture capital companies in Australia in recent weeks, but the appetite for investing in airlines was not high given recent events, he said.

However, European investors had seen the success of low-cost carriers in Europe.

Mosen said he would spend the next two weeks in New Zealand finalising financing details and working with the unnamed chief executive to co-ordinate the senior management positions that had been filled.

The group was also pleased with the low-cost strategic direction Air New Zealand was taking.

Mosen predicted in May that Air NZ would pull its budget service subsidiary Freedom off domestic routes, leaving an opening for another low-cost operator.

Air NZ said on Friday that Freedom would stop flying domestically.

- NZPA

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