Government waiting in the wings for Skyhawks sale

Red tape has temporarily delayed the Government's sale of the Skyhawks. Picture / Simon Baker

The apparently stalled sale of the Air Force's redundant strike wing will take some time yet, Defence Minister Phil Goff says.

Opposition MPs have highlighted the fact the $155 million deal to sell the 17 Skyhawks and 17 Aermacchi jets to a private United States company, Tactical Air Services, appears to have run into trouble.

Mr Goff yesterday confirmed the process was more difficult than the Government had thought and would take more time.

He said one of the company's partners had withdrawn and it was now looking for another.

The sale also had to win the approval of the US State Department and both the House of Representatives and Senate.

Mr Goff said it was not a case of "bungling" by the Defence Force or Ernst & Young, which is selling the aircraft on behalf of the Government.

"These are difficulties that are out of our control," he told Parliament's foreign affairs, defence and trade select committee.

He said there was a limited market for the aircraft, so the Government was committed to pursuing the sale with the US company.

In most countries, the Skyhawks were seen as vintage and were put on display.

The sale had the backing of the US Army and Air Force.

Mr Goff has previously said it costs about $130,000 a month to maintain the planes for sale.

The chairman and chief executive of Tactical Air Services, Hoss Pearson, said the sale was not in trouble and was going ahead as planned.

"We are working this aggressively and want the State Department to give us approval."

He said the delay in approval was "normal bureaucracy".

"But it is progressing through the system now and it is going to happen."

The aircraft would probably be ready to be shipped to the US in two to three months.

"There is no problem," he said, when asked if he was still confident the deal would go through.

- NZPA