Of Nznac
pp. 34-36 · Read in the full issue
Last Islands Flight]
TEAL Includes Samoa And Takes Over
rwas announced in NZ on tember 23 that, with the ex: ception of the Auckland-Norfolk H land service, the New Zealand Nar ional Airways Corporation will ceasj to operate air services outside Ne’i Zealand at the end of October.
NAC DC3 aircraft will take oc for the last time, southbound, from Rarotonga on October 31, Faleoll« (W. Samoa) November 1, and Nao. (Fiji) on November 2.
Thereafter Rarotonga will ceas. to have an air connection and thri other points at present served ba NAC will be served by the TEAL Solent Coral Route service.
The withdrawal of NAC was exr pected, with the inauguration of thr TEAL service to W. Samoa, bm there will, nevertheless, be some acb verse effects. Air travellers will inn mediately have to pay a higher fan than previously, and Rarotongas capital island of the Cooks, will be isolated. All air-mail and passenges facilities from that island will now cease, and although TEAL will conn tinue to serve Aitutaki, at the higher fare rate, 140 miles of sometimes very troubled waters lie between tha£ point and Rarotonga, with a shipping connection which was never designeo for first-class passengers.
It is estimated that the provision! of an air-link between Rarotonga? and Aitutaki would cost £20,000 pen annum. There is, therefore, no inr tention of providing such a service: —although it has been announceo; that “steps are being taken to imr prove the shipping connections bes tween the two islands.”
The immediate effect will be th©j diversion of passengers to and fromr Rarotonga to the Maui Pomare $ which is heavily overbooked fromr Auckland in the winter months aneb from the Cooks in the summer whem most people take their leave fromr the islands.
At the present time, as stated by/ the Union Steamship Co., Agents for the Maui Pomare, thea Cook Islands cannot provide a pay-' able cargo of produce for the Matua or even the Maui Pomare. Whenn recent fruit plantings come into fullll bearing, in three years time, the sit—d uation may be different.
Rarotonga, and the Cook Islands?] generally, are bound to suffer by thee withdrawal of the popular NAC ser
vice which has served the Group jfficiently and without accident since its establishment by the RNZAF in 1944. The regular visits of the popu ar NAC flying personnel will also keenly missed.
NAC Islands services have cost £185,000 in subsidies since their nception.
TEAL Inaugural Flight to
W. Samoa
Following a proving flight in late September, Tasman Empire Mrways Ltd. will now make Sata puala, about 20 miles from Apia, Western Samoa, a port of call. This lew seadrome will have a service of hree flights every four weeks —two if the flights will be part of TEAL’s 2oral Route Service from Auckland o Papeete, Tahiti; every fourth week in additional service will be run :rom Auckland via Suva terminating n Samoa.
The inaugural flight including Western Samoa will leave Auckland m October 14. This will be a special light—a party of Australian and slew Zealand press men and women vill be the guests of TEAL, and ex ended stop overs will be made in
Western Samoa, Aitutaki (Cook Is lands), and Papeete. After that regu lar services will leave Auckland on October 28, November 8 (terminates Samoa) November 11, November 25, etc.
Future Of Teal And Bcpa
Preliminary talks on the future of TEAL and British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines will be held between the Australian Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. Anthony, at present
in London, and the British Ministry.
Probable outcome will be the re arrangement of the financial liabil ities of the Governments of Aus tralia, United Kingdom and New Zealand which between them own the companies.
It is believed that the UK wishes to withdraw from both companies in which case TEAL might become completely NZ controlled and BCPA Australian controlled.
TEAL, which began trans-Tasman operations in 1940 under private
enterprise was later nationalised.
New Zealand holds the largest share in the present company. In recent years TEAL has greatly expanded its services from the original Sydney- Auckland route.
BCPA was formed by the Govern ments of Australia (largest share) UK, and NZ immediately after the war and in competition with Pan American and Canadian Pacific Air lines carries on services between Sydney and Vancouver and Auck land and Vancouver.
Tonga Now Has a Civil List?
NUKUALOFA, September 10 EXPENDITURE of the Queen’s' Department in the current yearn was £8,700 (including Privy Purses and Prince Tugi’s allowance).
It has been the custom in Tongas for the Government to decide thesi amount of every departmental votes in current estimates for the yearV expenditure, and for each to be ap-< proved, omitted or reduced by Parl--I iament at its pleasure. Parliament,,] however, had no power to increases a vote for any purpose.
At the recent session of the Ton— gan Parliament the people’s repre sentatives felt that the amount al lowed was too small to keep the e Royal Family with dignity.
It was decided to adopt the prin- ciple employed in the United King- dom—that is, that each succeeding <: sovereign will surrender his or her i hereditary revenues to the Govern- ment for life, and in return a Select i Committee will draw up a Civil List. .
The Select Committee that was i duly appointed recommended that ] £12,000 be the amount of the Civil I List for the next financial year.