Air Service Drought

[?]amoan Air War—And Fiji And Dutch NG Developments

Becomes A Flood

In Samoa, the battle of the local skyways 5 been entered.

OR some time past Samoan Air lines Limited of Pago Pago, with largely Honolulu or US main id capital, has been trying to get inter-Samoan service operating, ne months ago, a “survey flight” h a chartered Hawaiian Airlines demised DC3, was made between i two Samoas, after which it was ted in New Zealand that the civil ation authorities there had not dl then received any application a permit for that company to ;rate a scheduled service into leolo airport—the only Western moa airport.

Jut even before this, Samoan Air es had struck trouble when a e early this year damaged the irtered plane by blowing it into building. & June it was announced that ’roup of Western Samoa people 1 formed Polynesian Airlines Ltd. is company immediately pur ised, or obtained the use of a cival Prince aircraft from Aus iia, and flew it to Western Samoa, u July, just as that aircraft ived, Samoan Airlines Limited, h its chartered DCS —and pre lably now with a New Zealand rmi t went into operation,

Tafuna-Faleolo, with two flights daily (excluding Sundays), at a fare of £Stg.4 single, Clearly there will not be room for two companies to operate on this short route, and if the same old business of international re clprocal landing rights—you can’t land on my airstrip if I can’t land on yours—is to operate, the two airlines will have to fight it out.

The situation could be quite in teresting; and it could be disastrous to one or both of the companies, There are approximately 125,000 people in the two Samoas, and neither territory has a high-wage economy. If two airlines get on the job and attempt to run two services daily, someone is likely to get hurt.

Residents of both Samoas are busv hoping that now the vital air link has been established it won’t collapse in a few months,

Fiii-Tonqa Service Still

D M , , Bottle-Necked The problem of some sort of simple accommodation for a limited number of visitors to Nukualofa, Tonga, may be solved in the next

few months, thus permitting a fairly regular air connection between there and Fiji. Overnight crew and passenger accommodation is the stumbling block at present.

Late in July, Fiji Airways made a special charter flight on behalf of one of Tonga’s few Indian busi ness men. Mr. O. Ritchie, Manager of Fiji Airways, took the opportunity of again visiting Tonga and was able to discuss the accommodation problem with Prince Tungi.

Prince Tungi is sympathetic to the idea of a fairly regular air connection and he said that he thought that pending the establish ment of a new hotel “some time in the future”, it might be possible for a government transit house to be built in the “near future”. How ever, at the present moment, accord ing to Mr. Ritchie, there is no suit able house or building of any kind.

Fiji Airways will likely make another flight from Nausori, Fiji, to Fu’amotu, Tongatapu, some time in August, as it is expected that a small group of SDA missionaries will be travelling to Tonga, and that a number of passengers would be seeking passage from Tonga due to the temporary absence of the Union Company’s Tofua from the run—she will be on annual survey in New Zealand.

Mr. Ritchie said that if a full load of ten passengers could be obtained each way, the single fare for the three-hour flight would be about £FI7 or £lB. A special charter trip with the Heron costs £3OO for the return flight at present.

Air Viti Not Functioning Earlier this year a firm registered as Air Viti Ltd. began to operate non-scheduled services in Fiji using a Cessna amphibian aircraft chartered from Mr. Don Nairn, of New Zealand. Mr. Nairn was operat ing there as Lake Taupo Airways L Hi June, Mr. Nairn separated from Air Viti and commenced operating in Fiji on his own behalf. Mr. Brian McCook, a well known pilot formerly

[?]unusual sight in the New Guinea highlands in July was this Cessna 180 amphibian. The air [?] piloted by Mr. B. Kidd of Melbourne, is on a geographical survey of P-NG for potential [?]o-electric sources in connection with the treatment of bauxite deposits on the Cape York [?]nsula. The amphibian was involved in an accident at Lake Murray, Papua, and was flown [?]oroka for repairs. Because of the soft surface of the airstrip at Lake Murray, a track [?]o feet long was cut through the scrub to the surface of the lake so that the aircraft [?]d take off from the water. It is probably one of the best equipped light aircraft on the [?]ralian Register—being fitted with most of the direction-finding instruments carried by larger aircraft. Photo: Eric Bolton.

Polynesian Airlines new twin-engine Percival Prince, which was delivered to Apia, where it is based, from Australia via Noumea and Nausori (Fiji) in July. It was piloted by Mr Reg Barnewall, the company's chief pilot and operations manager. It carries 12 passengers

with TEAL and Fiji Airwas originator of Air Viti, 1 operating a Piper Super-cit Nausori airfield near Suva o scheduled flights and i opened up a connection with villages along Naselai Beach,, east Viti Levu. This is the used by Kingsford Smith trans-Pacific flight in 1928.

The nearest good beach tc it is inaccessible by roaf usually involves a lengthy trip, but is just six minutes be Cub from Nausori, which is 35 minutes by road from But in late July Mr. I struck trouble and the ceased operating.

A New Fiji Air LinN The populous district of so Taveuni in Fiji now has a Fiji Airways link with Suva,, Over the past year ther been some non-scheduled c flights by Air Viti to a prr owned airstrip at Ura, on Ml Tarte’s property.

In July this airstrip was by the authorities for a scl

three-times-weekly Drover

by Fiji Airways from Nausoc have been operating a ser Matei at the north of the; for a long time past.

The service to Ura will be o convenience to plantation owj that area as they will be s 30-mile road journey to Maj

Closer Air Links Betwi

NNG and P-NG “A good neighbour is bette a far-away friend,” said Duti; Guinea’s Director of Internal Mr. J. C. Baarspul, at Sentas field, Hollandia, in July, whill ing bon voyage to the int flight of a new Dutch air between Hollandia and Lae (I The new service, operated] Kroonduif, is on a forti schedule, which will operate : junction with the Qantas from the Lae side which hs flying to Hollandia since 195 c as a monthly). This meamj is now a weekly air service b the two territories.

It is the first NNG-operai service to go into Alternations tory, and a result of policy ir the Canberra Conferences October.

Said a report from Ho after the inaugural flight M turned home: “The Lae fliglj 3 hours and 40 minutes ai, quite a revelation for the i passengers, most of whom hau visited the Australian territtc fore. They were favourably ime by the deep vallies of gree; fertile agricultural land.”