A Regular
pp. 47-51 · Read in the full issue
Nauru Gets
Air Service
AIR MICRONESIA in April an nounced its schedules for the inauguration of the first jet services in Micronesia, to begin on May 16.
Air Micronesia, recently estab lished, is owned 31 per cent, by the Los Angeles-based Continental Air lines, 20 per cent, by Aloha Airlines of Hawaii and 49 per cent, by the United Micronesia Development Association, which has local capital.
Continental Airlines will operate a Boeing 727 fan jet twice a week on a complete swing through the territory, from Saipan, to Guam, Truk, Kwajalein and Majuro, and one of these services each week will be extended to Honolulu.
In addition there will be a twice weekly round trip to Palau via Yap, which will be operated by DC6B until jet fuel storage facilities are available in Yap. The 727 is expected to service Yap and Koror within two months.
A Saipan/Guam round trip shuttle service will be operated six days a week by 727 jet, with one service on Sunday operated by the DC6B.
Continental will operate the Trust Territory’s SAI6 flying-boats on three round trip flights to Truk and Ponape each week, timed to connect with jet service from Guam and Saipan.
The island of Rota will see the Air Micronesia red and gold jet twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.
Cruising at close to 600 mph, the new jet will reduce travelling time from Saipan to Majuro to six hours
Fiji Airways Ltd. on April 21
extended its Fiji-GEIC run to
Nauru, giving the newly
independent phosphate - rich
island its first regular commercial air service.
The Nauru fortnightly air service is the first direct result of the March conference in Suva held to discuss regional and domestic air services of British associated territories in the South Pacific.
Other changes affecting Fiji Air ways were made at the conference and are likely to come to light late this year. One will be the purchase of a second HS 748 turbo-prop jet.
In its Nauru service, the airline now flies from Nadi every alternate Sunday to Funafuti and Tarawa, arriving at Tarawa at 2.05 p.m. and leaving at 2.50 p.m. for Nauru.
The HS 748 covers the 420-odd miles in less than two hours and arrives at Nauru at 4.10 p.m.
It leaves Nauru the following Monday at 6.30 a.m. for Tarawa, Funafuti, Nadi and finally Suva at 6.10 p.m. International connections can be made at Nadi.
These Nauruans are catching flying fish by night, with the aid of flares—a sight worth seeing. Now that the independent republic has an air service there will, no doubt, be the beginnings of tourism. At present there are no hotels or other tourist accommodation.
nd 35 minutes including stops at Juam, Truk and Kwajalein.
The three-engined 727 carries 71 assengers in international coach lass configuration, in addition to arrying 20,000 lbs of cargo in the pper deck cargo hold.
The aircraft will have two hostesses one Micronesian and one Ameri an). Six young Micronesian women /ere to begin training as hostesses at Continental Airlines’ school in Los Ingeles, in April.
General manager of Air Micro psia is Mr. Philip Yates, who rrived in Saipan on April 2 to set ip offices. He will be stationed in laipan and will be responsible for he overall direction of the new ►peration, reporting to Dominic P. tenda, president of Air Micronesia, nd senior vice president-international or Continental Airlines. Mr. Yates /as previously in charge of Con inental’s passenger services in Los Angeles. rO more hotels for Tahiti—the American-owned Taharaa and he French-owned Outu Macro—will ilmost double the number of hotel corns available in Tahiti.
When opened in December, this par, Taharaa will have 200 rooms, md Outu Maoro, scheduled to open n April, 1969, will have 232 rooms, fhey will be the largest hotels in ’apeete.
Outu Maoro is being built on Point /enus, looking out to Moorea. UTA French Airlines have a major interest n the hotel, which is owned by jrivate French interests.
Taharaa, under construction on raharaa Hill, overlooking Matavai Bay, near Papeete, will be owned :»y Inter-continental Hotels, a wholly- Dwned Pan American Airways sub sidiary. It is financed with private :apital and a French Government oan.
At a recent seminar held by the Tahiti Tourist Development Board to discuss plans for the two major hotels, French Polynesia’s Governor, Mr. Jean Sicurani, said he would request that visa requirements be suspended for tourists visiting Tahiti for periods of up to one month (in stead of 15 days, as at present).
Governor Sicurani said he also hoped to streamline and simplify customs and entry requirements at Tahiti’s Faaa International airport.
RECENTLY arrived in the New Hebrides is the MV Havanah, the first ship in the New Hebrides
inter-island trade with passenger accommodation for tourists —and she intends to take them. The Havanah is 104 ft long, with twin-screws. She will carry cargo and 16 passengers in double cabins.
The New Hebrides Chamber of Commerce, Vila, reported to PIM in April that it is planned the ship will do one seven-day trip each month with passengers only, Vila-Santo-Vila.
The ship will be alongside the wharves in Vila and Santo each for at least one day during this trip so that passengers may stay on her while in port.
The stops on the seven-day trip have not been finally decided, but will be chosen so that tourists have a chance to visit the most picturesque of the many primitive leaf villages of the New Hebrides. Stops will probably be in Undine Bay, to see one of the immense leaf houses built before the arrival of the first white settlers and a plantation. Next stop possibly will be Matasso, which is rarely visited by ships. The islanders of Matasso make the finest leaf mats and baskets in the New Hebrides and also carve outrigger canoes.
The Havanah will then thread her way through the many tiny islands off the coast of Malekula, from where there is a chance to see the fiery peak of the active volcano on Ambrym.
A slightly different route on the return journey will be designed to ensure that passengers get a glimpse of nearly all the innumerable islands of the New Hebrides.
Trips will probably be from Friday to Friday to connect with flights by both Fiji Airways and UTA. There will also be the possibility of some passengers doing a shorter trip Vila- Santo, and to return from Santo by air. Travel agents can get more in formation about this trip from the Chamber of Commerce.
THE numbers of tourists to Western Samoa from North America, which last year jumped 67 per cent, to 2,668, have shown even more spectacular increases this year.
In the first three months of this year visitors from US alone totalled 1,101, with monthly figures showing increases over last year of January 84 per cent., February 81 per cent, and March 131 per cent.
Although Aggie Grey’s Hotel has undergone considerable expansion, there is no doubt that present facilities will before very long find it impossible to cope with the inevit able flood of visitors, PlM’s Apia correspondent reported in April. He added: “There have been rumours for years about luxury hotels being erected by overseas investors but nothing has so far eventuated. This time the rumours seem likely to bear fruit.
“With the usual reticence of Samoan politicians and officials, nobody in the know will give out any information beyond the fact that the Samoan Cabinet has before it plans for a big hotel to be built by American investors at Taumeasina — a site on the lagoon about two miles out of Apia where the old quarantine station was once situated.
“The site was mentioned last year by the former Director of Economic Development, Mr. A. Gerakas, who said following his visit to a PATA conference in North America that a group of investors in Seattle was interested and would put plans before Cabinet for a $1,000,000 tourist hotel to be built at Taumeasina.
“One thing seems sure—if some body doesn’t build a new hotel soon, tourists will be joining the roadside pedlars and sleeping in the street.”
The old Nissen type facilities at Nuku alofa's airport at Fau'amotu (left) and the newly-opened air terminal (seen here having the finishing touches put to it).
Photos are by A. G. Shearer.