Cook Islands[?]
p. 22 · Read in the full issue
Electras Won't Go There
Cook Islands[?] Without An Air Service
t • Because the airfield at Fo Western Samoa and at Raroto and apparently also Aitutak the Cooks are classed as too for scheduled use by the new ?
E .£tra turbo-prop aircraft,
unit be no New Zealand comm air link with those territories the single remaining Coral Solent flying-boat is finally ' drawn from service in mid-l& THIS was announced by ' late in November, when i also announced that the EL would replace the DC6’s or Auckland-Nadi sector in Jar So long as one or both o local air services linking W( and American Samoa contin function—and the withdraw; TEAL should greatly boost business—Western Samoa will tinue to have a regular air co tion between the outside worl Tafuna, American Samoa, wh is expected that Pan America] be operating on a weekly (ir of present fortnightly) set north to Honolulu and soul Auckland via Nadi.
But unless some new airline nection is established—and has been talk of it from tir time—the Cook Islands are to be “off the air”, except fo three-monthly calls of the Ai: partment’s DC3 radio-calibi aircraft, which usually carry passengers when no commercii link is available.
Both the Faleolo airfieli Western Samoa and the Nika< field at Rarotonga are capat being lengthened and brought standard, but the Western S government cannot afford to d work on Faleolo at present, New Zealand has shown no im tion to lay out the monej Rarotonga.
What to Do?
It is unlikely that it woulc Samoan or Tahiti air interes operate a connection with the C RAI, at Tahiti, possess onlj ing-boats—a Solent and a Cal of the non-amphibious type Polynesian Air Lines of Apia Samoan Airlines Ltd., of Pago both have aircraft capable of r taining a link with Rarotonga A link with the less impc island of Aitutaki, where lane water facilities for sizeable aii exist, is not much use, as tin still the 140-mile sea journey t capital from there.