The Solomons

Solair Still

Alone In

Moves by Trans Australia Air ways and Mission Aviation Fel lowship to extend air services in the British Solomon Islands have failed. Their applications have been rejected by the protec

torate’s air transport licensing

authority.

This gives New Guinea-controlled Solair, the protectorate’s internal air line operator, a chance to consoli date its position as official Solomons airline and expand its services with new planes.

TAA, on behalf of Australia’s in ternational airline, Qantas, operates twice-weekly flights to the Solomons with Fokker and DC3 aircraft out of New Guinea. It had asked the Solomons air licensing authority for permission to carry passengers on Honiara-Yandina, Honiara-Munda and Yandina-Munda hops—all in ternal flights in the Western Solo mons.

The authority rejected this pro posal on April 30. Grounds were

that traffic on these runs was too limited and both TAA and Solair flew these routes it would “inhibit” the development of Solair in the area.

TAA, however, was granted per mission to carry mail and freight on these routes until March next year.

Mission Aviation Fellowship had proposed to use either a Cessna 180 “float” plane or a Cessna 185 amphi bian for operations centred on Malaita, the protectorate’s most populous island, on flights to points “not served” by Solair. The services were to have been non-scheduled.

With donated equipment, low costs and tax exemption, the group pro posed charges of $lB an hour with its Cessna 180 (commercial rate $4O) and $25 an hour with its Cessna 185 ($53). 9 Eighty-three people—66 men and 17 women —earned incomes of $A20,000 and over in Papua-New Guinea in 1966-67. Fifty-three of the people were residents of New Guinea and 30 were residents of Papua. NG’s Bureau of Statistics says the territory’s 83 “dollar elites” earned a total taxable income of $2,543,845 in that year, with the men accounting for over 80 per cent, of this figure.