Airline owes nearly 200 creditors

The collapse of Wellington-based charter airline company Vincent Aviation has created financial turbulence for 178 unsecured creditors.

But one creditor said he was owed less than $10 and was sorry to see the demise of Vincent's, which was established in 1989.

Pricewaterhouse Cooper's first liquidators' report into Vincent Aviation, which stopped trading in October, listed Vincent's assets as "three aircraft, inventories, and accounts receivable".

But it went on to say "the receivers have advised that it is unlikely that funds will be available to meet unsecured creditor claims".

The report had a list of 178 unsecured creditors, and it was possible that more would come forward.

The list included a host of aviation-related companies such as Air New Zealand, major airports - including Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Palmerston North and Nelson - and aviation authorities such as Airways NZ and the Civil Aviation Authority.

Several accommodation providers were also out of pocket, including Wellington's Brentwood Hotel, Timaru's Comfort Hotel Benvenue, Auckland's Hotel Grand Chancellor, and Nelson's Beachcomber Motor Inn and Aloha Lodge.

Mint Cafe, located at Lyall Bay's Retail Park just down the road from Vincent Aviation's base at Wellington Airport, and Quinny's Dry Cleaners in Upper Hutt were also owed money.

Quinny's co-owner Murray Quinn said his company used to dry-clean the uniforms of Vincent's ground crew and engineers, as well as sundries such as towels.

He was surprised to be on the list of creditors and said if Vincent's owed him anything it would be less than $10.

"They've been very good customers and it's been a bloody shame that not one but two aviation companies [Helipro was placed in receivership shortly before Vincent's woes surfaced] were severely hit in the space of two weeks," Quinn said.

Vincent Aviation owner Peter Vincent has blamed the collapse of the New Zealand arm of his company on financial issues caused by the failure earlier in the year of its Australian operations.

That is borne out by a raft of creditors from across the Tasman, along with a handful from Japan, the United States, Sweden and Singapore.

The liquidators' report also listed 17 creditors with secured interests.

They included Westpac New Zealand, six companies with claims on aircraft, and two with claims on Toyota Hiace vehicles.

There were also preferential claims, including those from Inland Revenue and New Zealand Customs, totaling $122,000.

- Source:  http://www.stuff.co.nz