Auckland-Suva Route

TEAL Takes Over Auckland-Suva Route

Tasman empire airways, ltd., took over the Auckland-Suva flying boat service from New Zealand National Airways Corporation on June 1.

Before the NAC flying-boat Takitimu, left Suva on her last flight on May 31 she circled around the town twice, in farewell.

It was TEAL which surveyed the Suva- Auckland route ten years ago. The sur vey was carried out in the veteran Aotearoa I, which flew from Auckland to Suva and then carried out flights to Nukualofa, Tonga, and to Lautoka.

Aotearoa carried the first airmails be tween Fiji and New Zealand and after she had completed her survey, the Fiji Government began to develop Laucala Bay near Suva, as a flying-boat base.

However, the war prevented the de velopment of civil air services in the South Pacific although, after the out break of the Pacific war, flights of mili tary aircraft became commonplace. To wards the end of the war the RNZAF began to run a service between Laucala Bay and Auckland on which civilians with special travel priorities were permitted to travel. In 1947, this service and a weekly service between Suva and Labasa, was taken over by NAC which has now given way to the company that surveyed the route—Tasman Empire Airways.

The National Airways Corporation will, however, still run its Pacific regional ser vices with DC3 aircraft from Auckland to Norfolk Island, Nadi (Fiji), Tonga, Cook Islands and Western Samoa. There will be close co-operation between the two airlines and NAC will continue to be agents in Fiji for TEAL.