Staff at the Air NZ Holidays Store in Wanganui face an uncertain future as the airline looks to sell off about half its stores around the country.
A spokesman for the carrier confirmed yesterday it aimed to sell 10 of its 22 stores to another travel operator but would not say if the Wanganui store was one of those or who the potential buyer was.
But Cam Wallace, Air NZ chief sales and commercial officer, confirmed that stores not sold would close.
Staff at the Wanganui branch would not comment , but they were told the plans at a meeting in Auckland about a fortnight ago.
Mr Wallace said Air NZ had started talking to holidays store employees regarding the proposed sale, "but we are not in a position to provide further information about specific stores ... The travel distribution landscape is rapidly evolving and we've determined that retail stores are no longer core business for the airline.
"We've entered into a conditional sale-and-purchase agreement for 10 stores which, if the proposal goes ahead, would see ownership transfer on November 30. The remaining 12 stores would close on that date."
Should the proposal go ahead, customers would still be able to buy Air NZ flights online, via the airline's contact centre or through any other travel agency including the 10 stores that would transfer to new ownership.
The airline would not say if any affected staff would be offered redundancy or relocation.
In September last year, the Wanganui store moved across Victoria Ave from its stand-alone premises to the Bank of New Zealand building.
At the time, Air NZ said the move was one of a series of similar co-locations which had happened around the country and meant BNZ and Air NZ customers were able to take care of their travel bookings and banking needs in one place.
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