Anderson intervenes over Ansett lease

Sydney Airport Corporation and Ansett's preferred owners stopped bickering yesterday over delays in assigning the airport terminal lease, with a deal expected to be reached in the next few days.

This follows the intervention of Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, who phoned Ansett's administrators, Mark Mentha and Mark Korda, late on Wednesday.

It is believed he urged them to drop thoughts of legal action against Sydney Airport Corporation and push for a commercial resolution.

A spokesman for the Federal Government-owned Sydney Airport Corporation said talks were still taking place on extracting key details from Tesna about the syndicate's business plans and the identity of those in the separate company that would manage the terminal.

Sydney Airport is also seeking a rental bond, and a commitment to assume liabilities on environmental and safety matters.

But sources close to the Tesna consortium, which is controlled by Melbourne businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew and was given the go-ahead by creditors on Tuesday to take over the airline's main trunk operations, said the negotiations had improved. A deal is expected soon.

It was delays in finalising the lease arrangements that forced the administrators to warn creditors this week that the deal may not be completed for another 30 days.

Tesna also supplied Australia's other major airport owners with financial information yesterday, as well as explaining details of its bid.

The airport owners say the information is crucial in deciding if Tesna could meet it lease commitments and other airport charges.

"The door is open and we are waiting for a response to our request for further information," said Australia Pacific Airports Corp's head of corporate affairs Geoffrey Conaghan. APAC owns and operates Melbourne and Launceston airports.

"The core issue is who are we dealing with, and are we going to be guaranteed the ongoing rent and quality of the (terminal) fit-out and maintenance?" he said.

Although the administrators last night secured the transfer of the lease at the small Launceston airport in northern Tasmania, the owners of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports last night did not have agreements in place.

The owners of Melbourne and Sydney also blame the lease delays on the administrators, who they say failed to begin serious talks on the lease transfers until late January.

Sydney Airport Corporation said it wrote to the administrators on December 31 and January 7 requesting details about Tesna. It held a meeting with the administrators on January 17.

Melbourne Airport, which also owns Launceston airport, wrote to the administrators on December 6 to warn that transferring the 15 separate leases at the Tullamarine site could prove complex.

A subsequent meeting with the administrators and Tesna representatives on December 21 raised several issues, but the next meeting was not convened until January 18.

Terminal deals alone will not resolve Ansett's fate: A mountain of deals is yet to be concluded, like the licensing of information technology systems and other conditions.

Aircraft leasing sources said another key component of Ansett's revived services, 29 new A-320 Airbuses, also remained unresolved. Originally, the Tesna syndicate, which is also backed by aviation investors David Bonderman and America West former chief Bill Franke, hoped to get the planes from United Airlines.

But it appears Tesna is also sounding out ditched Belgian carrier Sabena and US airline America West about assuming some of their fleets.

This would mean Ansett would get modern second-hand planes, instead of United's new aircraft.

Sabena has 26 similar planes, with America West 70 with some planes more than 10 years old, but most of the fleet is modern.


	GOVERNMENT NEWS \| home Anderson intervenes over Ansett lease The Age By DARREN GOODSIR and LEONIE WOOD Friday 1 February 2002 Sydney Airport Corporation and Ansett's preferred owners stopped bickering yesterday over delays in assigning the airport terminal lease, with a deal expected to be reached in the next few days. This follows the intervention of Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, who phoned Ansett's administrators, Mark Mentha and Mark Korda, late on Wednesday. It is believed he urged them to drop thoughts of legal action against Sydney Airport Corporation and push for a commercial resolution. A spokesman for the Federal Government-owned Sydney Airport Corporation said talks were still taking place on extracting key details from Tesna about the syndicate's business plans and the identity of those in the separate company that would manage the terminal. Sydney Airport is also seeking a rental bond, and a commitment to assume liabilities on environmental and safety matters. But sources close to the Tesna consortium, which is controlled by Melbourne businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew and was given the go-ahead by creditors on Tuesday to take over the airline's main trunk operations, said the negotiations had improved. A deal is expected soon. It was delays in finalising the lease arrangements that forced the administrators to warn creditors this week that the deal may not be completed for another 30 days. Tesna also supplied Australia's other major airport owners with financial information yesterday, as well as explaining details of its bid. The airport owners say the information is crucial in deciding if Tesna could meet it lease commitments and other airport charges. "The door is open and we are waiting for a response to our request for further information," said Australia Pacific Airports Corp's head of corporate affairs Geoffrey Conaghan. APAC owns and operates Melbourne and Launceston airports. "The core issue is who are we dealing with, and are we going to be guaranteed the ongoing rent and quality of the (terminal) fit-out and maintenance?" he said. Although the administrators last night secured the transfer of the lease at the small Launceston airport in northern Tasmania, the owners of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth airports last night did not have agreements in place. The owners of Melbourne and Sydney also blame the lease delays on the administrators, who they say failed to begin serious talks on the lease transfers until late January. Sydney Airport Corporation said it wrote to the administrators on December 31 and January 7 requesting details about Tesna. It held a meeting with the administrators on January 17. Melbourne Airport, which also owns Launceston airport, wrote to the administrators on December 6 to warn that transferring the 15 separate leases at the Tullamarine site could prove complex. A subsequent meeting with the administrators and Tesna representatives on December 21 raised several issues, but the next meeting was not convened until January 18. Terminal deals alone will not resolve Ansett's fate: A mountain of deals is yet to be concluded, like the licensing of information technology systems and other conditions. Aircraft leasing sources said another key component of Ansett's revived services, 29 new A-320 Airbuses, also remained unresolved. Originally, the Tesna syndicate, which is also backed by aviation investors David Bonderman and America West former chief Bill Franke, hoped to get the planes from United Airlines. But it appears Tesna is also sounding out ditched Belgian carrier Sabena and US airline America West about assuming some of their fleets. This would mean Ansett would get modern second-hand planes, instead of United's new aircraft. Sabena has 26 similar planes, with America West 70 with some planes more than 10 years old, but most of the fleet is modern. home