BOAC Crosses

The Tasman

By a Staff Writer

BOAC will enter the trans >man service on April 4, when 'omet 4 leaves Sydney at 9.45 i. for Auckland. This flight I herald a twice-weekly service

ween London and Auckland,

first regular pure jet service 3 the Dominion and the first ect service between London I New Zealand.

Comets will leave Sydney each Monday and Thursday at 9.45 .. and will arrive at Auckland at 15 p.m. (NZ time). The return its will leave Auckland at 8.30 . on Tuesdays and Saturdays and arrive at Sydney at 10 a.m. The net will thus stop-over at Auck i for about a day and a half after Thursday flight. tOAC, which has a round-the ld service in the Northern Hemis re, now only needs rights to rate between Auckland and Hono i to have a round-the-world ser ; taking in part of the Southern nisphere. As Fiji is a British >wn Colony, BOAC is unlikely to

have any difficulty about using Nadi, so all that remains is Nadi-Honolulu.

It is the expressed intention of the airline to get into the South Pacific, and on present indications the traditional operators in that area may soon have a new competitor.

BOAC with its pure jet service will offer stern competitions on the trans- Tasman route to Qantas and TEAL.

TEAL, when owned by the Australian and New Zealand Governments, en joyed a monopoly of Tasman traffic.

When sole control passed to New Zealand, TEAL (reluctantly, although

it would never officially admit it) had to share the traffic with Qantas, an arrangement which seems to have worked out well for both airlines.

Both Qantas and TEAL, till Auck land’s new Mangere airport opens, will be at a disadvantage with BOAC for they offer Electra turbo props against the Comet jets.

Another possible round-the-world service taking in Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti by the French airline TAI was discussed at Welling ton in February. ( PIM , March, p. 6).

A French Government and airline

[?]S SUGAR: Nanise Nasilasila, who won title of Miss Sugar at the 1962 Lautoka [?]ar Festival flew to Honolulu for two [?]eks in March as the guest of Canadian [?]ific Airlines. The all-expenses-paid holi day was part of her first prize.

Photo: S. A. Whippy.

egation discussed at Wellington, 1 also earlier in Australia, the pos ility of French jetliners flying the sman when Mangere international port is opened in 1965. provisional agreement was aed at Wellington, and at Mel irne proposals and counter-pro ;als were discussed. A firm agree nt should follow.

Mr. R. Vergnaud, leader of the inch delegation and a member of French Civil Aviation Depart nt, said at Auckland that a weekly vice was envisaged through Syd r and Auckland each way, the ser e to start as soon as Mangere was med.

Zealand, under the provisional cement, would have the right to its jets beyond Tahiti to Hono n and North America once rights re obtained from the United tes Government.

Mr. Vergnaud said that the Aus lian Government was also seeking hts to fly through Tahiti, and hough last year it had dropped this luest, it still hoped to obtain them.

He did not know what would ppen if the Australian Government used the Tasman rights. The pro sed jet service would be run by J using DCB’s.

FAI for the last six years has been ming a weekly connecting service :ween Auckland and Noumea, tim -5 the arrival to fit in with the jet vices. TAI also has rights to fly tween Auckland and Tahiti, but so • has not exercised them.

Prime Minister Mataafa being intro duced to players in the main game before he officially opened the 1963 rugby season at Apia Park, West Samoa, in March. The Prime Minister is himself a former star player. With rugby being played at the South Pacific Games later this year, competition to make the tour is particularly keen among the growing number of Samoan players.—Photo; Samoana.