Touchy Situation Follows

France's Tough Attitude On Tahiti Air Rights

One of the touchiest situations in the history of commercial aviation in the South Pacific developed in mid-December when the French Government terminated the rights of Tasman Empire Airways Ltd. to fly into Tahiti, and kept the Australian Government guessing on whether Qantas would be allowed into Tahiti in 1964. By year’s end Qantas also found it was out.

tEAL, the pioneer airline into Tahiti, had been operating gular services between Auckland d Papeete since 1951, and for a imber of years it provided Tahiti’s ily air link with the outside world.

Qantas, on the other hand, began service only on November 22, '63, following an agreement with ance made a few weeks before, owever, the agreement only gave mtas landing rights in Tahiti until e end of the year.

The announcement in December at TEAL’s landing rights to Tahiti id been cancelled corresponded with i announcement that the US Civil eronautics Board had approved a in American Airways plan to fly to Tahiti.

The plan is for Pan-Am to lease e route of South Pacific Airlines ;tween Hawaii, Tahiti and American imoa, operating this in conjunction

with its existing route between the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Rumours early in December that France planned to “ditch” TEAL were greeted with expressions of disbelief by people in Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti who remembered t h e eulogies that leaders such as Tahiti’s Senator in the French Parliament, Mr. Alfred Poroi, had uttered only recently about TEAL’s long an d invaluable service to Tahiti.

But when the rumours were finally confirmed, the official reaction was r mart ahlv remarkably restrained.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Mr.

Holyoake, merely said that his Gov eminent (which owns TEAL) was “most disappointed” at the French action.

TEAL’s chairman, Sir Andrew McKee, said—a little more forth-

rightly—that the French decision was “short-sighted and distressing”, and that if the French proposed to stick to their “get tough” line, he hoped New Zealand would respond and terminate French rights into New Zealand.

The strongest word that TEAL’s general manager, Mr. F. A. Reeves, would allow himself to muster publicly to describe the French decision, was “annoying”.

He said the decision was annoy ing because: • TEAL had spent much money building up its Tahiti operations, which had been profitable only in the past two years. • The Tahiti Coral Route terminal was an integral part of TEAL’s South Pacific tourist pro motion programme. • It would be a setback to a promising airfreighted export business in New Zealand foodstuffs and other products which TEAL had pioneered.

"Troublesome"

Mr, Reeve said that although the French decision would be “trouble some” in its effect, it was by no means critical.

“TEAL,” he said, “will continue to promote the South Pacific as a tourist mecca —an image which TEAL has done so much to establish in the past.

“We must ensure New Zealand’s adequate participation in the post- Mangere tourist boom expected from North America.” [Mangere is the new jet airport being built near Auckland. It will be opened in 1965].

“We in TEAL are naturally very disappointed by this French decision, but our future does not depend alone upon the transience of the French Government.

“It will no doubt make our task a little harder in the next year or

FLYING BOAT SUNK: A party of Ansett engineers visited Lord Howe Island in early December to salvage parts of the wrecked flying boat "Pacific Chieftain" which was wrecked in a storm there last July. The remains of the aircraft were towed out to sea for disposal. Airlines of NSW will put a new flying boat into service between Sydney and Lord Howe next Easter. The plane, a Sunderland, has been secured on lease from the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Photo: Clive Wilson.

so, but it should not adversely or unduly affect our airline’s longer-term prospects.

“As soon as Mangere is ready for commercial jet operation, the French Government can be expected to approach New Zealand with a view to re-establishing rights for the French carrier in this country, “Any such approach would auto matically raise the question of the resumption of TEAL services in Tahiti.”

Mr. Reeves said the French decision would not affect TEAL’s programme to re-equip with DCS series 52 jets in 1965, as only a small part of the company’s plans involved the use of Tahiti.

Probably only the niceties of protocol prevented the TEAL executives from saying openly what many other people were saying in New Zealand and in the South Seas served by TEAL (including Tahiti).

That is, that the French decision was mean and narrow. For the purposes of expediency the French had sacrificed an airline which had done 2?^5. e ., la y the foundations of Tahiti s present tourist .prosperity, and thus French commercial interests’ than anybody else. TEAL had also provided Tahiti with a lifeline when nobody else would.

Despite the official TEAL state ments, Tahiti has always been a key *9 s planned expansion and the French have known this. The situation could in fact be serious for TEAL, which is still a small airline on the way up.

Although the French Government’s decision on TEAL was to become

effective officially from December 31, 1963, the French Government agreed to allow the airline to continue flying into Tahiti in the New Year so that passengers booked on its flights would not be inconvenienced. The flights will continue until other airlines can handle the bookings.

About 450 passengers have booked seats for January on the Pago Pago- Papeete section of TEAL’s Coral Route, and about 250 have bookings for February. Other seat reserva tions have been made for up to 12 months ahead.

The French Government’s decision that Qantas’ landing rights in Tahiti had been cancelled was announced on December 26—only six days be fore an Australian-French Air Agree ment terminated, and only two days before Qantas was due to make its last flight to Tahiti for the year.

France announced at the same time that the UTA-Air France round-the world air service through Sydney would end after December 31, and that in the New Year the airline would refuel at Darwin and fly direct from there to Noumea.

Australia and France have tem porarily agreed that Qantas and UTA-Air France will each continue to operate a weekly service between Sydney and Noumea in January, but future services after that month are in doubt.

The cancellation of Qantas’ Tahiti landing rights is a severe blow to the airline’s hopes of establishing an air route to London via Mexico.

The idea of starting this service, and thus getting a leg into Latin America for further expansion, was “? e - c M reason w hy Qantas wanted iahiti landing rights.

However, in a speech officially despatching the inaugural flight on November 22, the Australian Minister for Civil Aviation, Senator Paltndge, made it clear that aviation relationships between Australia and France were not the best.