Proposed

Internal Air Service For Cook Islands Proposed

A Western Australian firm, whose principals are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, has submitted a proposal to the Cook Islands Executive Committee (i.e. shadow Cabinet) to establish an in ternal air service in the Cook Islands.

Reporting this recently, the "Cook Islands News" said that the Execu tive Committee was "most interested" in the proposal and was seeking ad vice from the Department of Civil Aviation in Wellington on airstrip re quirements, facilities and costs.

The proposal has been made by the owners of Kingsway Helicopter of Western Australia. It provides for a service to the outer islands based on Rarotonga, with an aircraft capable of carrying six passengers.

The service would begin in July this year, and might eventually be ex tended to Tahiti.

At present, the only islands in the Cook Group with air communications are Rarotonga and Aitutaki. These islands are connected with Apia, Western Samoa, by the weekly flight of the DCS aircraft of Polynesian Airlines Ltd.