Rfields V. Planes
p. 165 · Read in the full issue
[?] enders for Service
3T what kind of airservice the New Hebrides will have to the outside world, or when it will > it is obscure at the present But it seems reasonably cer "now that they will have one— it could be two. jvo French companies are m sted in a regional service, mea-Vila-Santo and return. But position at the moment appears >e that TAI (Transports Aenens >rcontinentaux, successors to Air nee and already operating the is-Noumea service with DC6B xaft) has purchased a DCS foi service but has nowhere to i the plane at Vila. /hile Transpac (the small air many which has successfully iblished internal air-services m v Caledonia) has no plane capable doing the job but has tied up landing rights at the airstrip Vila which is privately owned, ’ranspac wished to buy a Heron ne for this service, but it is
ierstood that the particular
chine that it had anticipated •chasing in Australia was not tilable. , ..
Vhether the company will be able buy a similar plane elsewhere is : known. It is understood that . New Caledonian General Coun ' favours Transpac for the service NH and has guaranteed them the rchase price of the plane. iVho will eventually win out in is battle of Aircraft v. Airfields anyone’s guess at the moment, isidents of New Hebrides, who ve been without an air connec m with Noumea and the rest of e world since Qantas withdrew flying-boats over a year ago, do t care very much which way it es—so long as their air connec m is restored to them.
A spokesman for Qantas said in 'dney, on July 10, that that com my “has no plans for New ebrides at present.” (Qantas is prevented by the Aus •al i a n Department of Civil liation from using the airstrips at ila and Santo until they are •ought up to Australian CA re lirements for Skymaster aircraft, he French air companies presum fly do not have to conform to the tine standards).
Ai To Extend To Auckland
TAI made a test flight from oumea to Auckland and return ith a DC6B aircraft in May and , is hoped that from July this ill be a regular additi(pn to the >mpany’s established Paris-Noumea ervice. . . .
Negotiations are not yet complete etween France, New Zealand and oistralia over this extension but if
thev end favourably for TAJ the flights will be made fo jtmghtly, carrying the usual Ist and tourist
class plssengers. . The. service will
then be Pan s-Cairo-Kai achi- Saigon - Darwin - Noumea-Auckland and return along the same r °ute.
Nothing further has A b T ee n of a Sydney call by TAI although it is known that the company would like landing rights in that city.
It has been suggested also, that TAI might operate a feeder service from Noumea to French Oceania but nothing authentic can be learned about this proposal.