Two Trans Pacific Airlines To Operate

Soon

British Want Nationalisation and Rates-control

IT seems quite definite that there will be both an American and a British Trans-Pacific Air Service in opera tion before the end of June perhaps sooner.

The determination of the three British Empire Socialist Governments (Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand) to keep control over the British service, and to force the Americans into some sort of rate-governing convention, has delayed airways plans on both sides of the Pacific.

The Pan-American Airways Trans pacific Service, between the Pacific Coast of the United States and Auckland, via Honolulu, Canton Island, Suva and Nou mea, which was to have been resumed in February, cannot be started until certain discussions now going on between the United States and the British Empire Governments are completed.

It is generally expected that the United States-New Zealand service will com mence in April.

The extension of this PAA service to Sydney, however, cannot take place until a licence has been issued by the Ameri can Board of Civil Aviation; and this, in turn, depends upon the granting of reciprocal tending rights by Australia.

Mr. Harold Gatty, South Pacific mana ger of PAA, will arrive in Suva at the end of March, and will take up his per manent residence there.

BRITISH Commonwealth Pacific Air lines (BCPA) will be established shortly by British, Australian and New Zealand interests approved by the Governments of those countries, to oper ate a service between Sydney and Van

couver. This decision was reached by a conference of Ministers representing the three countries, which met in Wellington in the first week of March. Details are now being worked out.

BCPA will be registered in Australia, and will operate “in parallel partner ship” with a Canadian Government air line.

The Wellington conference made plans for airlines linking all British Territories in the Pacific, including ground facili ties and meteorological services.

There will be a South Pacific Air Trans port Council, representing all these British interests, established in Australia, with a permanent secretariat.

INDICATIONS are that strong efforts are being made to get some sort of agreement, between British and American interests, on the lines of the recent Bermuda Conference, to avoid cut throat competition.

In view of various “official” announce ments, of which the foregoing is a sum mary, the position of the Australian operating companies is obscure.

Qantas, all ready and equipped to start a trans-Pacific service, has been run ning fortnightly experimental trips from Sydney to Suva, via Noumea, for months past. Australian National Airways has imported four fine Skymaster planes, and similarly announced readiness to start the trans-Pacific run. It was definitely stated by some newspapers in March that ANA would inaugurate the Pacific service very shortly; but that has noc been offi cially confirmed.