For South-East Pacific

New Air Services

Planned

VARIOUS people and companies are taking an interest in the possibilities of providing Polynesia (the south east section of the Pacific Islands) with better air services.

At present, Fiji, Tonga, Western Samoa and the Cook Islands are regularly serviced from New Zealand. But French Oceania and American Samoa have no regular air service—Eastern Samoa because it is the only American possession south of the Equator, and French Oceania that large and important Territory was reserved for French enterprise, and Air Prance have failed so far to carry out their promises to maintain a service between Australia, New Caledonia and Tahiti.

Of the large South Pacific communities, Tahiti is now the only one without regular air communication with Australia and North America.

The big Australian concern, Qantas Empire Airways, which provides many important services in the Western Pacific, has been displaying an interest in Tahiti; but nothing concrete has yet developed.

Pan American Airways

It was announced from New York, early in January, that Pan American Air ways had applied for permission to run a service between the United States and American (Eastern) Samoa.

This may mean a diversion of the regular trans-Pacific PAA service (now running via Honolulu, Canton Island and Fiji to Sydney and Auckland) or it may mean a new service running from Honolulu, via Tahiti, American Samoa, and Fiji to New Zealand or Australia.

Link With South America

Meanwhile, there has been an interest ing development in relation to trans pacific communication with South America. The following British United Press message was published in the Australian newspapers on January 7:—

Santiago, Mon.

A Manutara amphibian aircraft, manned by nine members of the Chilean Air Force, yesterday completed a non-stop flight from Chile to the Lau Group, Fiji Islands.

It covered the 2,047 miles in 18 hours 37 minutes.

President Gonzales of Chile has sent a message to the Australian Prime Minister saying that he is certain that the flight will open up a South Pacific air route.

This took everyone by surpise. It had been reported that a Chilean Air Force flying-boat probably would fly out from Chile to Easter Island (a Chilean possession) to meet the famous Australian air pioneer, Captain P. G. Taylor.

Captain Taylor (who pioneered the air route from Central America through Polynesia to Australia a few years ago) has been making preparations for a survey flight, in an Australian Air Force Catalina, from Sydney direct to Chile, via Fiji, Samoa, French Oceania, and Easter Island.

It was not known why the Chileans had gone to the Lau Group, and whether they planned to go on to New Zealand or Australia. In fact, after that message, there was a complete news black-out concerning the Chileans.

Captain Taylor, however, announced two days later that his fuel supply

arrangements, along a string of islands from Samoa eastwards, would be com pleted by the end of January, and he hoped to set off for Chile in February.

The Australian air authorities announced that they had had no word at all from the Chile Goverment about any Chilean Air Force flight westwards across the Pacific.

Honolulu-Tahiti Service

It was announced from Honolulu and Papeete, early in January, that the first four-engined flying-boat of the Tahiti- Hawaii Airline —established recently to cater for the American tourist traffic with Tahiti—would arrive in Papeete with over 30 passengers on January 17 and would depart on the 19th. The founders of the new enterprise, Messrs. Taran and Pennington, of Honolulu, were to accom pany the craft, and it was hoped that an important trade would thus be inaugurated.