27 May 2025 
 
 
File Ref: IRC-8371  
 
 
 
 
 
Ainslie Smith 
[FYI request #30832 email] 
 
 
Tēnā koe Ainslie 
 
Thank you for your email of 26 April 2025 to Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council (the 
Council) requesting information regarding the Singapore Airlines subsidy. Your request has been 
considered under the Local Government Of icial Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA). 
Please find my response below. 
 
Please provide the date where WCC started paying subsidies to Singapore Airlines to operate 
their service into Wellington, and the date when these payments ceased. 
 
There were no subsidies paid from Wellington City Council (WCC) to Singapore Airlines.  
 
From April 2016, WCC provided funding to WREDA (now: WellingtonNZ) from the Destination 
Wellington programme for a Route Development and Marketing Support package. Funding 
was paid directly from WREDA to Wellington International Airport Limited (WIAL). This funding 
ceased on 12 March 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.  
 
If possible, please provide the amount paid to Singapore Airlines, or the frequency of 
payments (e.g. annually, quarterly etc.). 
As noted above, no payments were made to Singapore Airlines.  
 
The support package paid by WREDA to WIAL was based on the delivery of services. 
Payments were made annually in arrears, based on the actual frequency of services 
operated. The amount paid by WCC has been refused under the following sections of the Act: 
 
•  Section 7(2)(b)(ii), to protect information where the making available of the information 
would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who 
supplied or who is the subject of the information; and  
 
•  Section 7(2)(c)(i), protect information which is subject to an obligation of confidence or 
which any person has been or could be compelled to provide under the authority of any 
enactment, where the making available of the information would be likely otherwise to 
damage the public interest would be likely to prejudice the supply of similar information, 
or information from the same source, and it is in the public interest that such information 
should continue to be supplied. 
 
Please also provide all correspondence pertaining the decision to cease the Singapore 
Airlines service into Wellington. 
Wellington City Council does not hold any correspondence regarding the cessation of the 
Singapore Airlines service. This portion of your request has been refused under section 17(e) 
of the Act, the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exist or, 
despite reasonable efforts to locate it, cannot be found. Information may be held by WREDA 
or WIAL and can be requested from these entities.   
 
 
 
 
 
 

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As per section 7(1) of the LGOIMA, I do not consider that in the circumstances of this response, the 
withholding of this information is outweighed by the other considerations which render it desirable to 
in the public interest to make the information available.  
 
You have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(1) of the LGOIMA, to request an 
investigation and review of the Council’s decision to withhold and refuse information by the 
Ombudsman. Information about how to make a complaint is available at 
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602. 
 
If you require further information, please contact [Wellington City Council request email].  
 
 
Nāku noa, nā 
 
 
 
 
Chelsea McHugh 
Senior Advisor Of icial Information 
Of icial Information & Privacy 
Wellington City Council 
 
 
Wellington City Council   |   2 of 2 
 
 

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