oh for goodness sake
this from a news site
Australian troops won't fly Air New Zealand
AAP
16 August 2007
AUSTRALIAN troops will no longer fly Air New Zealand, after a row in Wellington over a "cock-up" which led to the national carrier flying soldiers to the Middle East.
The New Zealand Government, which opposes the war in Iraq, was furious when it learned the airline had carried Australian troops to the Middle East, en route to Iraq.
"In light of this controversy, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will no longer use Air New Zealand in any circumstances," Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.
It was revealed yesterday that up to 600 Australian troops were taken to Kuwait by Air New Zealand in June, from where some went to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Brisbane-based Strategic Aviation was the company contracted by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to take the troops to Kuwait, but because one of its planes was in maintenance it paid Air New Zealand to carry the soldiers.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and other ministers were furious that they had not been told in advance of the flights.
Defence Minister Phil Goff said the airline's actions were "contrary to the wishes and the views" of the Government, which owns 76 per cent of the carrier.
Top NZ officials today took the rap for the foreign policy error.
"This is cock-up by officials, not a conspiracy by ministers," Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said today.
Mr Downer said earlier that he had received no complaints from New Zealand about the flight.
He also pointed out that the Kiwis had themselves sent troops to Iraq after the fall of Baghdad.
"This is an arrangement we have where we charter aircraft but if the New Zealand Government doesn't want us to charter Air New Zealand aircraft, that's fine," Mr Downer said.
"We'll find plenty of aircraft in the world to charter. I'm quite relaxed about it."
The ADF was not able to say how much business it did with the NZ carrier.
Executive director of Strategic Aviation Michael James said the New Zealand Government's reaction was out of all proportion to the situation.
He said the planes only flew troops from Darwin to Kuwait, and under no circumstances did they fly into war zones.
"At the end of the day, it was a commercial decision we used Air New Zealand. There were no other aircraft around that could do the job in the region," Mr James said.
He said most of the people aboard the flights went to Afghanistan, where New Zealand has sent peacekeeping troops.
"It doesn't go to military airports and it was simply two flights, doing what we do every day. At the end of the day Air New Zealand makes money," Mr James said.
Air New Zealand said New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was aware of the flights before they took place and raised no objections.
I wonder how a lawyer may see this - government interference in a commercial transaction