Air NZ, We're Not Laughing

Blenheim didn't see the funny side of Air New Zealand's Hallowe'en promotion.
The airline jumped into the spooky spirit yesterday in its on-line
Grab-A-Seat site, by giving its domestic destinations Hallowe'en names like Spookland (for Auckland), Spellington (Wellington) and Witchchurch (Christchurch). Yea, I know, hardly side-splitting, right? But it really hit a bum note when it referred to the town of Blenheim as Beastheim.
Marlborough District Council Mayor Alistair Sowman ain't laughing: he's sick of the town being associated with Stuart Murray Wilson, one of the country's worst sex offenders. Wilson, dubbed the 'Beast of Blenheim', was paroled under strict release conditions in August. He served 18 years of a 21yr.sentence for multiple sexual and violent crimes against women, children and animals in the Blenheim area.

Beastie boy...

Mayor Sowman says nobody wants to be reminded of the former resident, and he's concerned about victims in the area who are trying to get on with their lives.
Air NZ rushed to change Blenheim's name to Ghostheim on the
Grab-A-Seat site, but the damage was done. Sowman says an apology to residents would be appropriate, but Air NZ was as silent as the grave...
Meanwhile Mayor Annette Main of Wanganui (to where the creepy pervert has been paroled) says she think Air NZ's promotion missed the mark. Quite possibly: it did after all call Wanganui WRONG-anui!