Planes to Nadi

TEAL May Use land- Planes to Nadi Re organisation of Pacific Airservices Forecast

NO official announcement has been made on the outcome of thp conference on airservices which took place at top political level in°New Zealand in mid- October between Australian Mm ister for Civil Aviation, Mr. H. L.

Anthony, the New Zealand Civil Aviation' Minister, Mr. Macdonald, and the Parliamentary . Under- Secretary to the UK Minister tor C The A press° was not admitted But the decisions of the conference have been treated with a considerable amount of “intelligent anticipation by several newspapers. C 0m lt is believed that B monwealth Pacific Airlines will be merged with Qantas ana that the present trans-Pacmc ser vice from Sydney to Vancouver by B° p A will be run under the direc tion of Qantas. „ pffie to use land planes between Sydney and Auckland instead of Solent flying boats as at.present, and that land planes will also be used on the TEAL service from Auckland to Fiji —terminating at Nadi instead of at C ' ;{l oc Qt nresent TEAL already Suva, as at P*® UviqW-f rnrn uses landplanes, chartered from Australian air companies, iO run its Service between Melbourne ana Christchurch.

At present there is no suitable aerodrome at Wellington, NZ, to rVIanPQ rnnnblp of flying the take pinaes capdUie Ui uymß Tasman, nor, due to. the terrain of this part of New Zealand, IS it likely that one can be easily pro- Vided.

IT may be taken as certain that Tirill Hp Hnnp to something will be done to rationalise the services in tne South Pacific in which UK, Aus tralia and NZ have an interest. All nf these Government-owned ser vices have lost a great amount of VICOS nave lost a gicdi Vl* money—and some of them are still losing it. (See October issue of Informed opinion in Government aviation circles IS that the mergers, absorptions and rationalisations that have lately been the order of the day in the United States and the UK must be followed in the South Pacific where the three Gov ernments concerned in overseas aviation have, in effect, one too many airlines. It is pointed out that the aviation business is evolv ing SO rapidly—particularly in speed and the capacity of new equipment that three aircraft of to-day, or —tnai inree , ui to-morrow, Will do or be able to do, what five did in 194 b.

The same opinion is to the effect that if these airways are ever to

nay and compete with the rest of the world, they will have to forget national ambitions and be prepared to bury their identities—such as QEA, BCPA, TEAL, etc.—in a more widely embracing and therefore more economic scheme.

It is believed that the next gen eration of aircraft will turn the scales and that airlines will then— but perhaps not for five or 10 years —begin to show real profits.

It is pointed out that these air lines have brought to the countries concerned benefits not shown on balance sheets: that there is also the matter of prestige and defence; and that they have been such large

scale undertakings to be beyond the scope of private enterprise. is correct A LL ot wmcn ’ oi course, is coneci.

Aas far as it goes However, the layman may, with reason, ask if swift evolution in the industry is entirely to blame for the huge financial losses suffered in the or if some of the blame cannot be fairly apportioned to [he post-war saciahst m UK,to^traha and New Zealand, whose passion for consol and enterprise led them into the an transportation business than was economically prudent oi even sensible.