The cost of fighting the Department of Conservation's controversial Milford Sound air access allocation process was about $10,000, one operator said yesterday.
Southern Lakes Helicopters operations manager Lloyd Matheson, of Te Anau, said his company had been fighting the process since it began in 2003 and the cost of injunctions and solicitors' fees had been "mega bucks".
The members of the Queenstown Milford Users Group - which number about 35 in Wanaka, Queenstown and Te Anau - have vowed to continue to fight Doc, with the group seeking legal advice and individual operators who had missed out on an allocation appealing the decision.
Mr Matheson said Doc had now pitted member against member.
"Some of us have missed out. There are certainly divisions within the user group, but clearly we're all concerned for each other and we have agreed we'll feed the fighting fund," he said.
All members of the users' group had given money for solicitors' fees to try to have the process re-examined with the aim of having the final decisions overturned.
While Mr Matheson said it might not be easy, in the past five years the group had been "quite successful" in challenging the department.
"We've managed to force their hand and get it out to 23 [packets of allocations]. We all had a gentlemen's agreement to apply for the packets . . . each packet was matched against the operators' returns."
However, Mr Matheson said the agreement was "muddied" when Alpine Choppers, based in Queenstown, took an injunction against the process last year.
"Then it became open slather."
Doc decided to limit landings at Milford to try to manage the noise from aircraft.
However, limiting flights was not the only way it could have been done, he said.
Most of the scenic flights to Milford were timed to coincide with boat trips - which left daily at 11am and 1pm, and returned at midday and 3pm.
Spreading out the boats' departure times would ensure the aircraft arrivals were also more staggered.
Of more concern were the submissions in the Fiordland National Park draft management plan which related to noise, primarily from "hobbies".
Mr Matheson said air operators felt "victimised" by Doc, which had chosen to affect their livelihoods because of noise complaints.
"It could have been mitigated by new flight paths. The noise environment hasn't changed. [Doc] hasn't addressed the noise," he said.
"They've got each business now competing against the others and causing disharmony . . . those who have missed out will go to Milford but not land there, they'll just fly round and round."
Further frustrating members was Doc's failure to allocate any landing rights for flight training organisations, which provide specialist training for all pilots wanting to work in the Milford air industry.
Mr Matheson said Doc had asked successful air operators to give up 2% each of their landing rights for the flight training organisations.
They had "rejected this option", he said.
Any new pilot who joined Southern Lakes Helicopters had to complete five hours of flying in Milford Sound before they were allowed to carry passengers.
Southern Lakes had only received 43 landings, he said.
