Pacific Air Services

Guam-New Guinea Link?

THE question of providing an air mail service across the Pacific, linking Australia with North America, appears to be receiving increasing attention from the two great Anglo-Saxon air companies— Imperial Airways Limited and Pan Ameri can Airways (which, it is understood, are working in co-operation).

It was originally proposed that, once the ’Frisco-Honolulu-Manila-China route was being regularly operated by Pan American Airways, a new service would be inaugurated between Honolulu and Auckland (New Zealand), via the Central Pacific groups (Samoa and Fiji). For some reason, however, Pan American Air ways appear to have lost their first en thusiasm for this latter proposal.

Since then it has been suggested that for the present an air-mail service with America might be operated, by using the present Imperial Airways’ service from Australia to Singapore; thence by special air liner to China; and thence using P.A.

Airways’ service from China across the North Pacific to San Francisco.

During the month a further plan has been presented. It is that British and American interests, in co-operation, should run a branch line due south from Guam (one of the stations on the North Pacific service between Honolulu and Manila) to the New Guinea mainland; and thence, via Wau and Port Moresby, to Australia.

One commentator says; “This would connect with the proposed Australia-New Guinea service, for which tenders are to be called.

“The completed links would bring Syd ney within seven days of the United States. New York would be an eight days’ journey.

“The likely tenderers for the New Guinea service are Guinea Airways Ltd., W. R. Carpenter and Co. Ltd., Airlines of Australia Ltd., and Qantas Empire Air ways Ltd.

"An extension from Guam Island—on the existing Pan American trans-Pacific route —to Port Moresby would be one day’s flight.”

It has been reported in certain quarters that the Commonwealth Government, on the advice of its defence authorities, is planning a route for the Australia-New Guinea air service which will not include Port Moresby at all.

This is because the authorities wish to place an important landing station at the northerly tip of Australia, on Cape York.

Thence, it is believed, the route will go directly across Torres Strait to Daru, and thence north-eastwards to the N.G. gold field; or, alternatively, it may go directly from the Cape York aerodrome to the Wame River, in the delta of the Purari River, on the Gulf of Papua; and thence east by north to the New Guinea gold field, with an emergency landing ground somewhere between the Wame and Wau.

Such a proposal is certain to arouse bitter protest from Port Moresby, which hitherto has been counting on becoming an important station on the air-mail route between New Guinea and Australia.

There were reports some months ago that Imperial Airways were planning an alternative route between Singapore and Australia—that they were contemplating the possibility of reaching Australia via Borneo and New Guinea, instead of via the East Indies and Darwin. Wq now have received authoritative advice from London that "Imperial Airways have no

intention of flying to Australia via New Guinea.”

An announcement about the inaugura tion of a new aerial transport service in Fiji may be expected at no distant date.