Newly bought Fullers seeks to calm fears of ferry cuts

Auckland ferry company Fullers is assuring its thousands of passengers and 174 staff that service levels and fare concessions will not be cut under new ownership.

That includes free travel on NZ Bus services throughout mainland Auckland for holders of monthly passes for the Waiheke ferries, Fullers chief executive Douglas Hudson said.

His assurance followed an announcement yesterday by Infratil - which also owns NZ Bus - that it had sold the 11-ferry Fullers operation for $40 million to Souter Holdings, the private investment arm of Scotsman Brian Souter.

Mr Souter was also chief executive of multinational public transport operator Stagecoach, which sold its New Zealand bus and ferry operations in 2005 to Infratil for $250 million.

Since that sale, he had returned to New Zealand to buy Howick and Eastern bus company in Auckland and a 74 per cent stake in Mana Coachlines in Wellington.

His New Zealand-based executive chairman Bill Rae said there would be no retrenchments or restructuring of the Fullers operation and his firm had full confidence in the management.

Campaign for Fairer Ferry Fares spokeswoman Cathy Urquhart, whose group was continuing to push for a reversal of fare rises imposed last year on the Waiheke Island runs, said she feared having to deal with yet another tier of decision-makers and wondered about the future of the free bus travel for monthly ferry ticket holders.