Airport

Tonga Hopes For

A 10,000 Ft Jet

With its STI million Queen Salote Memorial Wharf open

only a matter of months, Tonga

now hopes to jump into the jet age with a 10,000 ft interna

tional-standard jet airport on

Tongatapu.

This was spelled out in mid-June by King Taufa’ahau, in his opening address to the Legislative Assembly at Nukualofa.

Over half the address was devoted to the subject of a jet airstrip for Tonga.

“I am sure that no angel is going to come down from heaven and give us millions of paangas with which to build a jet strip. But we can do it ourselves if we have the desire, he said.

King Taufa’ahau said the aero dromes of the world could be divided into three main categories. The first —consisting of grass strips and unevenly surfaced strips included Tonga’s Fuaamotu strip.

The second type consisted of sealed runways of up to 4,500 ft, such as Fiji’s Nausori strip.

Modern jet strips, such as Nadi, Pago, Canton Island, Tahiti and New Caledonia in the South Pacific, represented the third category. / Big revenue increase 7 “Now is the time for us to start work on an airstrip capable of coping with large jet aircraft, he said. “Firstly, by building and seal ing a runway of 5,000 ft to handle the type of aircraft which are at the present time operating, and then by extending a further 5,000 ft.

“I am sure that in a very short time following the completion of a jet-port, the kingdom’s revenue earn ings would be increased two-fold, three-fold or even more.”

The king didn’t give any idea of what the jet strip would cost Tonga, or where the money to build it would come from —a point which made observers in Nukualofa ponder whether their head of state was being too optimistic.

Meanwhile, Tonga in July expected to begin operating its first internal air service, using Air Pacific, of Fiji.