Australia
p. 10 · Read in the full issue
Guinea Airways Extend To
New Continental Services Started With Surplus Plant From New Guinea
AN announcement on February 15 that Guinea Airways’ Lockheed Electra aeroplane had arrived in Darwin the previous day, to inaugurate a new weekly service between Adelaide and Darwin, caused surpirse. It was the first intima tion that Australia had had that the big New Guinea transport company had ex tended its operations to the mainland.
It is a development that has been under consideration by Guinea Airways Ltd. for a long time, however.
Transport conditions on the New Guinea goldfield, in a sense, have flat tened out. The period during which huge quantities of machinery, building mater ial, food, etc., had to be taken in, is ended. The present mining period is one of operation, and fewer aeroplanes can take care of the transport. In conse quence, Guinea Airways found itself with a lot of surplus plant on its hands.
The decision to start the Adelaide to Darwin service was taken some time ago; but, on account of the intense competi tion in this new aviation industry, the decision was kept secret Another Lockheed will arrive shortly.
It was ordered from U.S.A. many months ago, but was held up by the strike. Two Ford aeroplanes—mostv excellent and re liable general utility machines—are com ing from New Guinea to be used in the new services based on Adelaide.
It is understood that there will be a weekly service, both ways, between Ade laide and Darwin, with calls at Central Australian places, like Alice Springs and Tennant’s Creek; and that <:here will also be a new direct service between Adelaide and Sydney. It is known that these pos sibilities are being energetically ex plored; but the main difficulty seems to be that of finding suitable and safe land ing grounds.
Guinea Airways are anxious that it should not be thought that they are with drawing from New Guinea. They em phasise the point that they'still have in the Territory ample plant, on both the
flying and the workshop side, to take care of all requirements there.
EDITORIAL NOTE.—It is'a matter for great regret that, owing to the New Guinea Administration’s inertia and lack of a comprehensive development policy, the full resources ,of Guinea Air ways Limited are not being used for the opening up of the Territory. It has been urged, in season and out, in this journal, that the rich gold industry (the happiest accident in the history of New Guinea) should be used to develop the agricultural and pastoral resources of the Territory.
Transport is vital to development. The gold industry is rich enough to maintain the highly efficient but expensive aviation services. An Administration with any vision would have used those aviation services (already established) for the development of the whole of the Terri tory.
The present Administration seems to have made no plans along those lines.
Its most noteworthy recent achievement is a squabble with the aviation compan ies concerning the relative merits of the Lae and Salamaua aerodromes—in the course of which a very prominent offi cial made rather an exhibition of him self. It appears that he had chartered the Guinea Airways Lockheed to bring him to Sydney in a hurry; but, because Guinea Airways would not risk thffir valuable new machine on Salamaua ’drome—which is notoriously a dirty and dangerous ’drome—the gentleman be came peeved, cancelled the charter, and travelled in a small and slower aero plane.
This is typical of the Administration.
Prominent officials apparently consider it much more important to make full use of a chance to “cock a snook” at Guinea Airways, than to make use of that suc cessful aviation company’s wide experi ence and magnificent equipment in de veloping New Guinea quickly for the good of Australian commerce and the credit of the Australian people.