Islands Create An Air Council

Pacific Transport

But There's No Regional Airline

By a staff writer

The question of rationalising re onal air services in the South acific is still very much in the melt ig pot following a meeting in Nauru n October 28 and 29 of aviation iinisters from seven countries. The :anty information released after the iceting suggests that Air Pacific is ill as far away as ever from realising s dream of becoming the accepted igional operator.

The ministers agreed to set up a Duth Pacific regional civil aviation Duncil of government ministers, acked up by an advisory committee f aviation experts. The council’s »b will be to stimulate technical co peration between rival airlines based i the region and ration out routes nong them.

Fiji’s Minister for Communica ons. Works and Tourism, Mr Ted eddoes, before leaving for Nauru, joke at a tourism conference in Suva, id put Fiji’s case for Air Pacific in nutshell—there were already too lany little airlines shunting people bout in the Islands. The need was for ic region to support one big, well rganised airline.

The Nauru meeting was attended y ministers responsible for civil avia on from Fiji, the Gilberts, Nauru, ic Solomons, Western Samoa, Cook ilands and Papua New Guinea. Aus alia and New Zealand were also The South Pacific Bureau for conomic Co-operation, which organ ed the meeting, issued a brief com mnique after the meeting, held be ind closed doors, saying the recom lendations for the new council and dvisory committee would go to the outh Pacific Forum for ratification, loth organisations would constitute le consultative body on regional viation matters already mentioned by le forum as being a desirable tool to ave in shaping the improvement of ’acific Islands air services.

Undoubtedly some overhaul is ceded, for the Pacific Islands do not

represent a big enough internal market for everybody. No airline is making a fortune. It may have been coincidental but Air Pacific, about the time of the conference, reported a hefty loss, unstated, for the year ended March 31.

Five Pacific countries are repre sented on the Air Pacific board —Fiji, Western Samoa, Tonga, the Solomons and the Gilberts. Qantas, Air New Zealand and British Airways are also represented.

The Air Pacific board, at its annual meeting, lifted the number of Fiji

directors from two to four. All other interests have one director each. But Captain P. Howson, of Qantas, re mains chairman.

As internal traffic has dropped back to the level of that of 1972, because of a slump in tourist traffic, Air Pacific is considering leasing or selling one of its three Trislanders, bought earlier this year for domestic services.

Another airline. South Pacific Island Airways, about the same time announced it was, at last, ready to launch new services between the two Samoas, using new Cessnas. Rather

ban buy two new aircraft, it could lave been a better deal for SPIA to :harter the Trislander.

Air Pacific is obviously doing well vith its regional services. Its second 3AC 111, which was leased to Air Malawi, is due back in Fiji in De :ember. Air Pacific will then make a ?ig expansion of services—four a veek each to Auckland and Brisbane >y December 31, and a fifth flight o Brisbane early in 1976.

So far there is no clash of regional ervices, but if Air Pacific is expan ion minded, it will find a worthy ival in Air Nauru. Continental has ights in Apia, and other points on he way down from Micronesia, ilthough it has not yet exercised them.

Vhen it does it could look for a re urn route, say through the Solomons, vhich would cut across part of an Ur Pacific service. Air Niugini too, s looking at expansion, but so far no urther east than Honiara. At the aoment Air Niugini seems more in ent on going north and south.

Obviously there is a need for ationalisation, which won’t be chieved without close co-operation, Stuart Inder wrote in PIM in une, 1974: “Is the South Pacific to lave one regional airline doing the reatest good for the greatest number, •r is every mini-state going to estab ish its own international airline and ight its neighbours for landing rights nd customers?

“Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, Fiji]s •rime Minister, summed it up in his isual direct fashion following the outh Pacific Forum in Rarotonga /hen he said that the Forum would land or fall on civil aviation, which /ould be ‘the real test of Pacific egional co-operation’.”

His remarks are still highly rele ant.

Continental Plans

Ts S. Pacific Route

Continental Airlines, which has pplied to the US Civil Aeronautics loard for permission to establish a oute to the South Pacific, sent two if its executives to look over the rea recently.

The airline’s vice-president, Don leek, and the market planning direc or, Fritz Blayney, flew into Pago ’ago and also visited other islands.

Continental, which was a victim if political fiddling in 1969 when ’resident Nixon quashed its award iy his predecessor, President John on, for a South Pacific route and ;ave it to American Airlines, plans o operate between San Francisco, ,os Angeles, Hawaii, Pago, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.

American Airlines, which withdrew

from the South Pacific last year, blamed the denial of its use of these West Coast gateways for its failure to make the South Pacific route pay.

Continental’s application is due for hearing in Washington in December and it plans to begin the new opera tions in a year’s time with medium range DC 10/10s which, at present, are configured in a non-lATA 200 seat arrangement.

Carrying 6,100,000 passengers and generating 5.6 billion pay-miles in 1974, Continental is the smallest of the American trunks, but one of the most profitable. It has rationalised its 53-plane fleet to two types only— the tri-motored DC 10/10 and the 8727-200. It also holds 31 per cent of the equity in Air Micronesia, which it manages.

Polynesie Is

Up For Sale

The Polynesie has been withdrawn from the Sydney-Noumea-Santo-Vila service and offered for sale. She was operated by South Pacific United

Lines, a subsidiary of Messageries Maritimes, which is looking for a re placement. In the meantime, the ser vice will be operated with La Bonita, a conventional cargo and container ship, which is on temporary time charter.

The Polynesie, a cargo/passenger ship, was introduced to the service about 20 years ago. Her replacement will be a cargo-only ship. The econo mics of building a cargo/passenger ship as a replacement, ruled out any possibility of bringing in a ship similar to the Polynesie.

Fiji Unionists

Buy Bus Company

A chance remark by union officials during wage negotiations that the union could run bus companies better than existing bus operators led to a situation where the Fiji Transport Workers’ Union now has a foot in both camps. The chance remark caused union officials to do a bit of thinking, and that thinking was fol lowed by the purchase of Amalga

ited Transport Co Ltd for about 50,000.

The union/company now has 26 ses of 50 to 60 seating capacity -vicing several thickly-populated ;as of Suva. The fleet will be en •ged in the next three years.

A board of directors has been ap inted to control bus operations. The ard’s manager operates from the ion office, working alongside union icials. Initially, 50 per cent of net ofits will go to the union and 50 r cent to the board. If the board’s irkers make industrial claims, then ; union will meet the board round ; table.

There is no reason why the opera n should not be a success. But an ;ential ingredient is that the union es no further than being the owner the fleet, leaving conduct of the siness to the board.

Jxury Passenger

Hp For Solomons

A 130 ft luxury passenger cruiser ilt in Japan is expected to soon go o service in the Solomon Islands, e ship, named the Compass Rose is valued at more than $250,000. can carry 200 passengers.

Mr Alf Scholz, manager of Coral as Fishing Co, which owns the new p, said all compartments were air aditioned. Each cabin had a red [vet carpet, a writing desk, two airs and a mirror. There would be 0 classes of cabin—de-luxe and >t-class. De-luxe passengers would ve their own lounge with comfort le leather chairs.

Compass Rose II will have a speed 13k knots, and will be fitted with modern navigation aids, including Jar.

The fares in the Compass Rose II 11 be the same as those charged the Regina M and other govern ;nt ships. There will be reduced arges for cargo from Honiara to zo and Auki.

Jl Builds

S Biggest Ship

The Fiji ship-building industry tted itself on the back in November th the launching of the biggest ship er built in the country. The ship is 1 Kaunitone, 580 tons, which cost out $500,000. The name of the ship es right back into Fijian history, d legends say that the Kaunitoni is one of the four canoes which ought the first Fijians to Fiji, led a warrior named Lutunasobasoba.

Not only was the ship built in va, it was also designed in Fiji, ready it has become the pride of e Fiji Marine Department’s fleet. ;r inclusion in the inter-island ship ng service is timely, and will plug

the gaps left by the loss of the Ului lakeba and the Makogai, which foun dered in hurricanes.

She is fitted with 500 hp Cater pillar engines, and has a cruising speed of about 10 knots. She is 138 ft long, and has a 28 ft beam. She draws 13 ft. She can carry 110 tons in her main cargo hold, which in cludes two deep freezers. She has capacity to carry 88 passengers in cabins, saloon and on deck.

The Kaunitoni will be crewed by six officers and 14 seamen.

Air Niugini May

Buy New Aircraft

Air Niugini is looking at the possi bility of introducing De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft to a number of ser vices, and phasing out DC3s and Fokker Friendships. De Havilland Canada recently made a study of Papua New Guinea airstrips to see if its DH Dash 7 was suitable. Its report was sent to the Minister for Transport, Mr lambakey Okuk, who will pass it on to the PNG National Airlines Commission.

Mr Okuk said the DH Dash 7 had some advantages over the DC3 and the Fokker. It could land and take off with full loads at Enga, Chimbu, Southern Highlands and Kerema.

DC3s and Fokkers could not.

Upgrading those strips to take DC3s and Fokkers would be too ex pensive. The DH Dash 7 might solve the problem, and allow all provinces to use the national airline. The government would gain by buying the aircraft, he said.

The DH Dash 7 is like the Fokker in a number of ways. It is high wing, and turbo prop. However, it requires four engines to develop the same horsepower as the two engines of the Fokker. Both have the same passenger capacity. The DH Dash 7 has a range of only 935 miles, which is well below the potential of the Fokker. But the limited range does not mean a great deal in PNG.

Mr Okuk said he would ask the government to let Air Niugini hold talks with De Havilland Canada, if the Airlines Commission favoured the report, and aviation experts, both government and private enterprise, agreed. • Air Niugini was scheduled to start a weekly service between Port Moresby and Manila about the middle of October, according to a memorandum of understanding signed in Manila between Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Qantas has been appointed Air Niugini’s general sales agents in the Philip pines.

Uss Will Sail No

More In East Pacific

The Union Steam Ship Co of NZ Ltd will soon have no more services in the eastern Pacific. The Auckland- Tahiti cargo service will be aban doned in January because it is unprofitable. This follows the earlier withdrawal of the company’s NZ- Cook Islands service, and the sale of its assets there to the Cook Islands Government.

The company uses a chartered ship, the Luhesand, 1,673 tons, on the Auckland-Tahiti service. Rising costs, devaluation and shortage of return cargo from Tahiti made the ship unprofitable. The charter is due to expire in January and it will not be renewed.

It has been suggested that the NZ Government-owned shipping com pany, might take over the Tahiti ser vice.

Meanwhile, the Fijian Swift, 1,200 tons, which had been offered for sale, has returned to the NZ-Fiji trade.

This ship is owned by Reef Shipping, which has been operating another ship. La Bonita, on the route. La Bonita will transfer to the Australia- Pacific Islands service under charter to South Pacific United Line for six months.

Uk Help For

Regional Shipping Line

Help for the Islands to set up a regional shipping line may come from Britain. The Papua New Guinea Prime Minister, Mr Michael Somare, re turned home from the UK with a message that British shipping execu tives were prepared to help.

The offer was to help set up a government-controlled inter-island shipping fleet. The well-known line.

Bank, which operates in the South Pacific, and others, made the offers.

A spokesman for Mr Somare said the offer would be considered at the next meeting of South Pacific leaders, scheduled to be held in Nauru early in 1976.

Rotuma May Get

An Air Service

Rotuma, about 400 miles north of the main Fiji island of Viti Levu, is expected soon to enter the air age —with some misgivings. Suitable land has at last become available to accom modate an air strip. However, a number of islanders are concerned that an influx of tourists could affect their lives.

On the other hand, farmers wel come an airport because it will give them a chance to speed up transport of their produce to the main Fiji mar

ket in Suva. Rotuma is served fairlv regularly by ships, which have to un load cargo and load island produce by lighter.