Trans-Pacific Air Lines

Private Enterprise Shackled by Politicians and Bureaucrats

TWO trans-Pacific services are now virtually in operation. One (Pan- American), officially; the other (Australian National Airways), un officially.

Panair, who were to start their service on May 25, from San Francisco to Auck land were delayed about one week. But they are now working to a schedule (which is printed on page 55 of this issue) and trans-Pacific passages may be booked through regular Pan-American offices and agencies.

The position with regard to ANA’s service is much more obscure —and, from most angles, ridiculous. Our advice to those who urgently need trans-Pacific transportation from Australia is to con tact ANA direct.

AS was stated in the May issue of “PIM,” ANA had been unofficially informed that they were the chosen contractor for the interim service (which later will be run by BCPA, itself), but that public confirmation of this had not then been made—nor has it yet. How ever, it appears that pending official con firmation, the company was given per mission to make single “familiarisation” flights, authority for which would be given for each flight separately.

The first “familiarisation” flight began from Sydney on May 3 —Air Minister Drakeford and family travelled on this.

The second “familiarisation” flight was to have departed from Melbourne on May 29 —but, up until June 13, passengers w re virtually sitting on their luggage in Mel bourne waiting for the Australian Gov ernment’s OK for this run.

Obviously, someone threw a spanner in the works—but who, what or why is as big a mystery to the executives of ANA, as it is to their frustrated pas sengers or to the Australian press, which has printed a round dozen confusing and conflicting reports regarding the interim service in the past few weeks.

ANA proposed to operate the approved schedule —that is, three round trips Australia-San Francisco fortnightly and one trip Auckland-San Francisco fort nightly. At this writing (June 13) they have a Skymaster all ready to go at Essendon (Melbourne drome), complete with a full load of passengers. All that is needed is the approval of the Aus tralian Department of Civil Aviation which, in turn, is waiting upon advice from USA.

ANA when pressed, admit that from inquiries coming in, they feel that they will have no difficulty in filling the three proposed services fortnightly.

We repeat, therefore: if you want to cross the Pacific by air from Australia, contact ANA. Your journey may only be a “familiarisation” flight—but trans portation, these days, under any name, is mighty sweet.

Australia-NZ—Missing Link

PRESUMABLY this official hush-hush, and monstrous disregard for public service, will be cleared up within the next few weeks, but, even at that, there will still be a gap in the air chain.

ANA will be permitted to fly between Australia and San Francisco and between San Francisco and Auckland, but they will not be able to complete the circle and cross the Tasman. If they wish to do that, then they must do so via Suva.

Captain Ivan Holyman, managing director of ANA, told White’s Aviation (NZ) recently that his company had the planes, and the personnel to fly them, and that he considered that the Tasman link should be part of the Australia-US route, but that the Australian and New Zealand Governments would not let him land in New Zealand direct from Sydney.

The Anzac Governments are, of course, largely behind Tasman Empire Airways, and will countenance no competition— although there are hundreds queueing up in Auckland and Sydney for the privilege of paying £3O to cross the Tasman, and it is not expected that the additional flying-boats scheduled to come- on to the Tasman run soon will have much effect on the pool of surplus passengers for some months.

The public? The public is permitted to elect the Government!

Nausori or Nadi?

MEANWHILE, in Fiji, there is wild controversy as to the respective merits of Nausori and Nadi aero dromes. Nadi (on the dry west coast, 150 miles from Suva) was used during the war years as a large American base, and from it a feeder service was run to Nausori, In recent months, ANA and PAA have been using Nadi on their sur vey flights; but, in May, improvements to Nausori (17 miles from Suva, on the wet south-east coast) made it possible for them to land there. Flight officers of both companies were of the opinion that with a few alterations it could be made into a night-and-day airport for the largest commercial machines.

Panair’s new schedule quotes Nausori (and not Nadi) as the Fiji stageing point, and it is likely that ANA will also use it.

Whatever the local residents may feel about their two airports, overseas travellers (and airline companies) can see Nadi only as an airport on the edge of nowhere. Nausori is 17 miles by road from civilised Suva; Nadi is 70 miles air line —and about 150 miles by road.

Fares

WHEN Pan-American’s schedule of fares, which is quoted in dollars on page 55, this issue, is converted into Australian and New Zealand pounds, it provides a slight shock to the would be air traveller.

It costs somewhere about £55 to hop from Auckland to Suva—an amount decided upon, we are begged to believe, by the powers in Washington.

Presumably, ANA who started off by promising a complete trans-Pacific cross ing for £l5O, will be jockeyed into asking the same amount. The inference is that no one wants to carry passengers be tween Auckland (or Sydney) and Suva, anyhow.

They can do better than that in Aus tralia. Qantas Airways run a service to New Guinea. It is 2.104 air miles to Lae: it costs £37—or £66/12/- return. It is 1,140 miles from Auckland to Suva; it costs £55.

We might well ask why? And we might well ask, too, when the public are to be permitted to share in this golden air-age now close upon us.

The whole world is crying out for air transportation; but air transportation remains the plaything of Governments,

obscured by politics, red tape and inter national flim-flam. Meanwhile such ser vices as are running are so expensive that they avail the decent citizen nothing.

Only perambulating politicians and black-marketeers can patronise the inter national airways in this year of grace, 1946.