Pacific Transport

Air Pacific And Air Niugini

Plan Wider Wing Spreads

Some of the problems facing Air Pacific and its possible future role were outlined in the Fiji House of Representatives by Finance Minister Charles Stinson, a couple of days after he became acting chairman of the airline. Replying to questions about a government proposal to in vest a further $500,000 in Air Pacific, Mr Stinson said the future depended on a review of its structure which will be undertaken by independent con sultants.

Air Pacific might be forced into the position of getting long-range jets, such as the Boeing 707, and 'enegotiating the pattern of its routes o take in direct flights to Sydney and ~nd. But the airline’s big >roblem was the heavy interest >urden in repaying loans raised to buy lew aircraft.

Mr Stinson said Air Pacific lost 5923,000 between April, 1974, and March, 1976. It needed the $500,000 o get it out of serious cash problems, ’iji would invest another $500,000 in Vir Pacific in 1977. Three other air ines, with interests in Air Pacific, efused to increase their investments, 'hese were Qantas, British Airways nd Air New Zealand. Apart from Vestern Samoa, other Pacific Islands

jovernments were considering

/hether to increase their

hareholdings.

Air Pacific was not alone in losing loney. Qantas and Polynesian urlines suffered losses last year. Air Jauru had “extremely heavy” losses.

Mr Stinson said Fiji’s hopes of laking Air Pacific a regional airline ad not had a smooth passage. Other lareholders were being asked to low their loyalty. Mr Stinson said radically all general staff of Air acific were local, and good progress as being made in training local ilots.

Meanwhile, Air Niugini has been •anted rights to operate services to ydney. The first flight is expected in

November. It will probably be an ex tension of the Port Moresby-Brisbane service.

Under a new draft air services agreement between Papua New Guinea and Australia, Air Niugini has rights at Cairns, Brisbane and Port Moresby. In return, Qantas has traffic rights at Port Moresby and another port to be nominated later.

This could be Nadzab, near Lae.

Port Moresby at present has the only airport in PNG capable of handl ing Qantas jet aircraft. It can handle any aircraft, except the supersonic Concorde, but Nadzab, at present,

could not handle Qantas Boeing 707 s or 7475.

The emergence of the agreement has raised speculation that Qantas may be on the verge of an operations business deal with Air Niugini.

When Air Niugini went inter national late last year, Qantas was one of several operators which offered wet charter deals. But the contract went to the British charter specialists Tempair, based in UK and Hong Kong. Tempair is believed to have offered the best price.

Air Niugini, at the end of August, decided to buy a Boeing 707, with

New Shipping Link For Pacific

A new, fully containerised shipping service from Sydney to the Solomon Islands and the United States Trust Territories in August has opened new trading links between the South and North Pacific.

The Daiwa links introduced the % first containerised service to the* region following investigations by a trade mission from Micronesia to the Solomons and other major ports earlier this year.

Mr John Robinson, general manager of Oceania Lines, earlier said in Honiara that if there were east-west trading links in the Pacific, there should also be north-south trading routes.

The introduction of the containerised service direct from Sydney to Honiara, Koror, Guam, Saipan, Truk and Ponape gives much encouragement to businessmen in the Solomons who will, eventually, export raw materials to neighbouring territories.

The Solomons would certainly export timber, copra, and rice to the USTT. As a member of the trade mission put it: “The Solomons export to

the USTT is a guaranteed one”, USTT urgently requires rice, copra and timber. In the past few months Foxwood Timber Company has in creased its timber production to meet local demands with surplus for export.

Brewer Solomons Associates, a subsidiary of C. Brewer and Company of Honolulu is producing first-grade, vitamins-enriched rice. With the com pletion of the new rice mill scheduled for the end of August, the factory will be able to produce 70 tonnes of polish ed rice a day. The new mills will have a capacity of six tonnes of paddy rice an hour compared with the old mill which has a capacity of I3Al 3 A tonnes an hour.

Brewer Solomons Associates has made its first trial shipment of BSA rice to Palau, in the Carolines in the Palau, the first containerised vessel to call at Honiara.

One thousand tonnes of copra was also sent to Saipan in the same vessel, The Palau, of 6393 tons, has a capaci ty for 164 containers, of which 24 will be refrigerated 20ft containers.

Palau leaves direct from Sydney every 35 days.

spares and additional navigational equipment from Qantas at a cost of SKS million. Air Niugini hopes to have the aircraft in operation in January or February, 1977. With route expansion to Sydney later this year, Air Niugini is expected to need another big aircraft.

Air Nauru will be given rights at Momote on Manus Island in PNG for flights to Nauru. Previously Air Nauru was allowed a technical stop here only. That did not allow it to aick up or set down passengers.

The draft Qantas-Air Niugini igreement, which has to go to the Australian and PNG governments for pproval, probably merely a form lity, divides the traffic between the wo countries at a profitable level.

Teviously the balance was 70-30 in avour of Qantas.

Air Niugini will open a sales office n Sydney with Mr Brian Costello as ales manager. Mr Costello was ormerly PNG sales manager for vnsett.

A number of countries are seeking raffic rights in PNG, but the PNG 'ransport Minister, Mr Jephcott, is ot saying too much at present ecause he does not want to under aine his country’s stand in egotiations. One applicant is almost ertainly Air New Zealand. New Zealand has quietly been building up :s links with PNG and it is natural he should seek air traffic rights.

Six representatives from Fokker- FW, Holland, visited Papua New uinea in August to study the Dssibility of Air Niugini using the 28 Fellowship jet aircraft on Dmestic and short-haul international >utes.

A spokesman for Air Niugini said lat there were no immediate plans to jy the 64-seat Fellowship. But the rline needed to keep abreast of chnical developments in short-haul t equipment for forward planning.

The Fellowship may prove suitable >r such trips as Port Moresby airns, Moresby-Honiara, Moresby ieta, or Moresby-Rabaul, the said.

The Fokker team also liaised with le Creative Arts Centre in Port loresby on plans to redesign the ibin interiors of the airline’s 10 riendship aircraft. Each plane will ave its own traditional PNG design n seat covers, bulkheads and panels, i each case the designs will represenl particular province of PNG.