Nauru inaugural
p. 31 · Read in the full issue
VIPs miss on Nauru inaugural
Refusal of the Australian Depart ment of Civil Aviation to grant a licence, resulted in the last-minute cancellation of Air Nauru’s inaugural Fokker Fellowship jet service between Melbourne and Nauru in January.
The inaugural flight, carrying about 40 VIP guests, was scheduled to take off from Melbourne on January 29 and return on February 1. Guests were informed two days before that technical difficulties had delayed the inaugural flight.
The aircraft went without the VIPs, and was designated a non-commercial proving flight.
DCA had refused to grant the licence because it said it was still awaiting technical information from Air Nauru about the state of the Nauru airfield, including radio and technical facilities, and it could not clear the new and bigger aircraft until this information was available (Air Nauru was chartering the smaller Falcon fan jet until it took delivery of its own F2B in January)..
It put DCA officials aboard the proving flight to get the information, and a licence is now expected.
Air Nauru’s new service is twice weekly, leaving Melbourne Saturdays and Thursday, and calling at Brisbane, Noumea, Honiara and Nauru—with twice weekly extensions from Nauru to Majuro and once weekly to Tarawa.
The addition of Noumea on the route is a new development, and it was still not clear at the end of January what traffic rights are avail able. Air Nauru has no traffic right)* at Honiara.
In Sydney, in January, President Deßoburt said Air Nauru was sellirig a way to fly from the north to the south or from the south to the north Pacific in a leisurely fashion.
On other matters, President De- Roburt said Nauru had had discus sions with India on the possibility of India buying Nauruan phosphate, and India had asked for samples.
But the talks had got no further than that.
He said he had been reported in Suva as saying he felt the South Pacific Forum should be located in Suva, but what he had said was that Suva could be a permanent address for a secretariat, or clearing house, for the forum. It had already bedn decided that the forum itself should meet in various capitals.