In a settlement reached with the organisers of the postponed airshow, Wings and Wheels over Waikato, the Commerce Commission has secured refunds for those ticket-holders who were misled by the airshow's marketing and advertising.

This settlement follows a court order obtained by the Commission in March freezing the assets of Kenneth James Ross and three associated companies, Hawker Holding Limited, airshow.co.nz - Media Limited and airshow.co.nz Limited. Mr Ross is the promoter of the air and car show, Wings and Wheels over Waikato, which was to take place at Hamilton's international airport on 7-9 March 2008.

"The Commission took action to freeze the assets involved with the airshow, when the event did not go ahead, to ensure that the money paid by those who had been misled by the airshow's marketing and advertising would be protected," said Adrian Sparrow, the Commerce Commission's Director of Fair Trading.

To enable the refund process, an amount of approximately $511,000, identified as belonging to ticket holders, will be placed in a solicitor's trust account and distributed to ticket holders who claim a refund. The final details for the mechanism of refunding consumers are still being discussed, and ticketholders will be advised of the arrangements once agreement has been reached.

"The Commission anticipates that there is a shortfall of approximately $65,000 between the total amount paid by ticket holders and the remaining funds. These funds have been spent by the organisers and cannot be recovered. Even though there is a shortfall, the Commission anticipates that ticket holders will get most, if not all, of their money back. The Commission is pleased with the result it has been able to achieve for affected consumers," said Mr Sparrow.

Details for exhibitors' refunds are still being discussed with Mr Ross, and exhibitors will be advised once those details have been finalised. However the exhibitor's funds remain secured by the court's orders.