A Wanaka business says it is owed a "substantial" amount of money by the operators of Queenstown's Red Bull-sponsored stunt plane, who are being threatened with liquidation by the Queenstown Airport Corporation.
Southair general manager Mark Paterson yesterday said his business had been contracted to do maintenance work on the Pitts Special aerobatic aircraft for about 10 years.
He said he was owed a "lot of money" for work done on the plane and was pursuing The Action Aerobatic Company through legal channels.
However, he did not think the company had any assets because it had sold the plane to another party about a month ago.
The plane had not been flying since it was damaged earlier this year when a pilot taxied the plane into a parked motorbike.
The aircraft had been sent to Southair for repair but the new owner had not claimed it.
"It's still in bits in our workshops," he said. James Langley, a shareholder in the Action Aerobatic Company, said yesterday he could not comment until he had sought legal advice.
The Queenstown Airport Corporation, which has applied to the High Court at Invercargill to put the company into liquidation, also refused to comment.
