For Tourist-Conscious

More Air Links For Tourist-Conscious New Caledonia

AIR connections between Australia and New Caledonia, under at tack in Noumea in June because of their paucity (P/M, July, p. 129) are being increased as from August 1.

Qantas is to supply a Boeing 707 every Friday, instead of every second Friday as previously, from Sydney- Noumea and return. The service will be a joint one by Qantas and the French airline UTA. In November UTA will operate on the same leg with a Caravelle Jet, which will also be operated jointly by UTA-Qantas.

Meanwhile the DC6B at present operated by UTA is being withdrawn.

Extra seats will continue to be available on the UTA DCB’s which call at Sydney and Noumea on Wed nesdays on an eastwards round-the world flight and at Noumea and Syd ney on Mondays on the westwards flight. Thus from August 1 there will be two flights a week between Noumea and Sydney in each direction.

PIM Noumea correspondent Fred Dunn reported in July that an Air New Zealand DCS will operate a new Auckland - Noumea weekly service in November. He said on present in dications this was not likely to be a paying proposition as Auckland- Noumea traffic had fallen off greatly this year.

Qantas was again under attack in Noumea in July, this time at a UTA Press conference, for having refused “to dissociate the problems of regional air traffic from those of world traffic”. UTA felt itself unjustly criticised in New Caledonia for the present state of air traffic with the outside world.

However, UTA’s Noumea man ager commented at the Press con ference that not one plane had arrived from Sydney or left for Sydney com pletely full up in the past, and Fred Dunn said this statement “should belie the hysterical declaration made recently by some Noumea business men that Qantas and UTA were stifling Noumea’s tourist trade by re fusing to increase regional services”.

Noumea’s new luxury Chateau Royale Hotel, with some 80 rooms, is expected to open in August after many delays. As part of its decora

tions the hotel has a brace of old time cap pistols and much to its sur prise the management was requested to take out a firearm licence for these relics. The licence was duly granted.

NEW GUINEA’S Lae Show will be held on September 24-25. It is arranged by the Morobe District Agri cultural Society and the official open ing will be performed by Sir Donald Cleland on September 25

Papua-New Guinea Has Now

discontinued the routine spray ing of curios and other artifacts ex ported from the territory.

This is because there has been

some public misunderstanding at point of entry in Australia when Customs officials have ordered fumi gations of some articles, although they had already been sprayed in New Guinea. The officials have not regarded the P-NG spraying cer tificates as having any value, and thus the spraying has been a time wasting chore for tourists.

Australian Customs officials will continue, as always, to make their own decision as to whether treat ment is necessary in Australia. Most carvings bought by travellers will get in without trouble but anything containing bamboo or cane, such as an arrow, will be fumigated.