The Helicopter Line’s (THL) application for an off-licence to serve alcohol as part of scenic flight packages was the subject of a Queenstown Lakes district licensing committee hearing in the resort town this week. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Popping a bottle of bubbly after popping the question on a scenic helicopter flight is the vision behind a Queenstown company’s precedent-setting booze bid. The Helicopter Line (THL)’s application for an off-licence to serve alcohol as part of scenic flight packages was the subject of a Queenstown Lakes district licensing committee hearing in the resort town this week. Much of the discussion at the three-hour hearing centred on whether the company’s proposal met the legal definitions of a ‘‘shop’’ and a ‘‘good’’ under the Sale of Liquor Act. THL counsel Tanya Surrey said the application was the ‘‘first of its type’’, and other tourism operators in Queenstown and elsewhere would be interested in its outcome. ‘‘I agree this is something that needs to be decided by the committee because it will set a precedent, but what this applicant is proposing is very specific. ‘‘Other operators may have different offerings and proposals, so I don’t think it’s necessarily going to open the floodgates to applications all around the country.’’ THL is seeking an off-licence to serve alcohol during bespoke scenic flight packages from its base at Queenstown Airport. Chief executive Mark Quickfall said it was often asked by customers if it could provide a bottle of Champagne as part of a flight package, especially for ‘‘celebratory’’ events such as birthdays, marriage proposals and weddings. It wanted to offer such packages lawfully, rather than relying on a BYO alcohol arrangement that gave it less control, Mr Quickfall said. Ms Surrey said the Act required the premises to be a shop, and the alcohol had to be an appropriate complement to the goods sold in the shop. Although the flight itself was a service, the alcohol — either Champagne, wine or beer — would be part of a pre-booked package that might also include food, photography and souvenirs. ‘‘We submit that makes it a good, as opposed to a service.’’ The company was applying for the off-licence because it wanted to ‘‘do the right thing’’, she said. ‘‘They don’t want any grey area.’’ THL base manager Simon Cooney said the flights would typically involve spending 30 minutes at a remote location, with the pilot pouring a glass of Champagne for the passengers. The licence would only apply to its bespoke, pre-booked flight packages, not to the vast majority of its scenic flights in which people who did not know one another flew together, Mr Cooney said. The police, and the medical officer of health — represented at the hearing by Allannah Smyth — opposed the application on the grounds the company’s premises, and the flight packages, did not meet the Act’s definition of a shop and a good. The committee, which consists of chairman Brett Pay and members Lyal Cocks and Neil Gillespie, will give its decision in writing. guy.williams@odt.co.nz
