N.G. To Sydney

Air Service From

Tenders to be Called

r FHE plan for the establisment of a regu lar air service between Sydney and New Guinea, which had not received any publicity for a considerable time, has been actively revived —probably as a result of the recent flights of Guinea Airways’ new Lockheed Electra machine—and tenders are about to be called by the Defence De fence Department for a weekly air-mail service. The Minister for Defence said that the Civil Aviation Branch has been asked to report on the matter.

It is anticipated at the present time that there will be only two tenderers —Messrs.

Guinea Airways Limited and Messrs. W.

R. Carpenter and Co. Ltd., both of whom operate important aerial transport services in New Guinea. It is quite on the cards, however, that some of the big aviation companies in Australia will become inter ested.

The service at first, presumably, will end at Wau or Lae. It cannot be extended yet to Rabaul, because Rabaul has no aero drome.

The establishment of a weekly air mail service between Australia and the Terri tories (for a service to New Guinea neces sarily means the inclusion of Papua) will mark a new era in the development of this important region. The copra industry is once more profitable; New Guinea has an other profitable industry in gold; Papua’s rubber industry now is flourishing; and good prices are being offered for coffee and cocoa.

It stands to reason that Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, within a very short time, are going to respond generously to the stimulus of high com modity prices, cheap labour, abundant rainfall and fertility, and improved and steadily improving communications.