Car importer/distributor to get behind new airline

Media Release
16 December 2014

Fast growing car importer/distributor to get behind new airline

New Zealand’s largest used imported car dealership has announced it’s joining a consortium to set up a regional airline to service routes to be discarded by Air New Zealand.

Car importer and retailer 2 Cheap Cars, a multi million dollar business which is currently expanding across New Zealand, was recently named as the country’s second fastest growing company in the Deloitte Fast 50 Awards.

The company is joining forces with former Kiwi Air founder and CEO Ewan Wilson to establish domestic air services from regional centres which Air New Zealand will be exiting in April next year. The new airline will be known as Kiwi Regional Airlines (KRA) and is expected to be operating in 2016 with further consortium partners being announced soon.

2 Cheap Cars CEO, Eugene Williams, says the objectives of the new airline are a good fit with the business approach adopted by 2 Cheap Cars.

“As a car company we put a great deal of emphasis on providing value to customers in a highly competitive environment. Just as we have provided for cars buyers, we believe that New Zealand domestic air traveller are deserving of a better deal. Our aim is to be entrepreneurial in our approach so that we are able to pass on the benefits to customers. We’ve already proved we can achieve this in the car business by crucially also having robust business systems in place,” says Eugene Williams.

Ewan Wilson has welcomed the partnership.

"I am delighted that 2 Cheap Cars has chosen to be an early investor in Kiwi Regional Airlines Ltd (KRA). 2 Cheap Cars growth and performance clearly means they are an innovative company, and in that regard I can see a number of logical synergies that can be developed between them and KRA," says Ewan Wilson.

In 3 years, 2 Cheap Cars has become the biggest retailer of used cars in New Zealand and is projecting $40 million in sales this financial year.

Eugene Williams will take up a place on the board of the Kiwi Regional Airlines.

Ends.

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