Tickets will be honoured says Royal Tongan airline

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Royal Tongan Airlines says passengers stranded by the repossession of its sole international aircraft will have their tickets honoured by other operators, notably Air New Zealand.

Air New Zealand said last night that it had yet to receive a letter from the Tongan Government, which owns the troubled carrier, guaranteeing to reimburse other operators for any ticket transfers.

But a Royal Tongan spokeswoman in Auckland, Maggie Kerrigan, said she understood from its chief executive that a letter of guarantee was being provided for Air New Zealand - which flies five times weekly to Tonga - to carry the stranded passengers.

This followed a decision on Friday by the Tongan Privy Council to underwrite transfers by Air New Zealand, Samoa's Polynesian Airlines and Fiji-based Air Pacific of up to 1800 passengers hit by the repossession of Royal Tongan's leased Boeing 757.

Ms Kerrigan advised passengers to contact their travel agents to make alternative arrangements through Royal Tongan offices.

The news was greeted with relief by Auckland couple Elizabeth and Alan Gaul, who feared having to fork out another $1400 to take up a package holiday treat in the Cook Islands. Their daughter had already paid $3320.

Mrs Gaul said she and her husband were shocked to find that there was no guarantee passengers would be reimbursed if airlines collapsed and that their daughter's money was being held in apparent limbo by the International Air Transport Association.

Their travel agent, Go Holidays chief executive Bill Mathews, shared their relief but said airlines should be required to put up bonds to guard against this sort of disruption.

He said travel agents had to provide bonds as a condition of selling tickets on behalf of airlines but there was no such requirement in the other direction.

"Our company has to put up $500,000 - it was insisted on by the airlines - but it is all one-sided.

"In the old days we were told airlines were not going to collapse but we have seen it with Ansett Australia, United, Swissair - lots of airlines we would never have expected it to happen to - and almost Air New Zealand."