To Tahiti

Two Airlines Begin New Services To Tahiti

A new era in air travel be tween Sydney and Tahiti began in November when the French airline UTA resumed its weekly round-the-world service through Sydney, and the Australian air line Qantas inaugurated its new weekly service to London via Tahiti, Mexico, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

THESE developments followed the signing of a new air agreement between the Australian and French Governments, settling previou dif ferences between them on air traffic rights. ( PIM , Oct. p. 13 1 .) The new Qantas service is the first commercial air service connect ing the South Pacific Islands with any part of Latin America. It began on November 26.

All aircraft on this service—the Fiesta Route—will be fitted with a revolutionary device known as a Doppler Navigator to make them in dependent of ground navigational aids over the 4,300-mile stretch of empty ocean from Tahiti to Mexico.

The device continuously records the aircraft’s ground speed and drift ensuring accurate dead reckoning at all times. It utilises the physical

principle known as the Doppler Effect, which is the apparent change in the frequency of sound, radio waves or light due to movement. (The most common Doppler Effect is the change in the note of a certain whistle as the moving vehicle passes a stationary observer.) The Doppler Navigator sends out radar beams ahead of the moving aircraft and listens to the echoes, reflected off the sea or land below.

By measuring the frequency dif ference between the original signal and the reflection, the equipment automatically calculates true speed and drift.

But independent of this latest aid, Qantas navigators on the long trans ocean sector will still confirm their position by traditional star sights, used by mariners for centuries.

UTA resumed its round-the-world service through Sydney on November 18, and two UTA planes now pass through Sydney each Wednesday morning within a few hours of each other.

One, coming from Paris via the Middle East, arrives at 7.25 a.m. and leaves at 8.40 a.m. for Noumea, Papeete, Los Angeles and Paris. The other leaves for Paris via the Middle East at 11.30 a.m. A two-day stop over in Tahiti is the highlight of the flights in both directions.

Until March 31, UTA is offering a 23-day round trip excursion fare of £179/19/- from Sydney to Tahiti and return. This compares with the nor mal economy class fare of £258/18/-.

Passengers who wish may stop off in Noumea and Nadi at no extra cost.