regional

tralia, but government policy is to buy out the Ansett shareholding as soon as poss ible.

PNG itself is a pioneer avi ation country going back to early Australian influences, and internal trunk routes are still of huge importance and based on economic necessity because of the absence of road links. The internal routes serve one of the biggest island land masses in the world and a collection of outlying islands, and the international routes span the Pacific from Asia to Hawaii. The airline’s domestic inheritance makes its cargo carrying role of particular im portance, and one of its F 27 Fokkers is operated in a full

cargo configuration.

Historically it is interesting

to realise although well be fore the days of the present Air Niugini that more cargo weight was carried on the PNG mainland by air for three years in the 1930 s than was carried at the same period by air in all other countries of the world

taken together. This perform

ance was caused by the open ing of goldfields which could not be reached by surface transport.

Although the modern-day

Air Niugini is the biggest Pa cific Islands operator in terms

of route-loadings and although

the operation is inherently vi able the airline has been going through a period of financial stress. Problems at some senior executive levels, pressures to shake off the involvement of Australians, and re-equipment and fleet decisions have taken their toll. The airline has tem porarily lost its autonomy and has become directly respon sible to the government until September in its day to day op erations. Membership of the commission has been partly changed in a political contro versy and the government has been forced to make available a financial guarantee of several million dollars to tide the air line over until at least Sep tember. (See Pacific Report and Tradewinds.) Air Niugini’s routes serve Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns in Australia, Kagoshima and Fukuoka in Japan, Jakarta and Jayapura in Indonesia, and

Honolulu, Singapore, Manila,

Singapore, Hong Kong and

Honiara (Solomon Islands).

The weekly flight (two a week at present for a limited period) between Port Moresby and Honolulu is the only direct air service linking a US state with

Png.

The airline’s fleet consists of

two Boeing 707 s on full-time

lease, four Fokker F2Bs and six Fokker F27s.

Head office of the airline is at Boroko, the Port Moresby suburb which takes in Port

Moresby international airport.

Solomons in

regional

air routes

Solomon Islands, one of the newest independent states in the South Pacific, once boasted more aircraft per square kilo metre than any other Pacific country. This was in World War II when Japan, USA and Australia poured combat air craft into the main islands of the group and when the Coast watcher forces in hiding would often report two or three hun dred aircraft in the sky at one time. Even today the remains of military aircraft can still be found in the Western Province and the government recently

passed legislation recognising

the historical interest of these relics and forbidding their re moval without authority.

The airport which now serves Honiara, the capital, was built on Guadalcanal Island by US engineers as part of the military campaign and it has recently been upgraded as the centre of Solomons civil avi ation. Solomon Islands, despite its historical role in military air operations, had only limited internal air services until less than 20 years ago.

Two offshoots of Papua New Guinea third-level operations - Macair and Megapode established services there in the Sixties using Beechcraft Barons, a Piper Apache and a De Havilland Dove. It was not until 1968 that a full internal service was consolidated with the establishment of Solomon Islands Airways, now known as Solair, which was operated as

an associated company of Talair. Talair, based at Goroka in the Papua New Guinea Highlands, is the biggest third level operator in the Pacific.

Meanwhile the Solomons Administration (this was be fore independence) had taken shares in the Fiji-based Air Pa cific, and international links with Fiji and Papua New Guinea were flown by Air Pa cific. The Australian internal operator TAA also had a brief period of international contact between PNG and Solomon Islands, flying Fokker Friend ships on the route under inter national charter rights granted on behalf of the Australian in ternational operator Qantas.

Solair is now 49 per cent owned by the Solomons government and the remainder is still held by the Goroka based PNG interest but the government holds an option to

acquire the entire shareholding

by 1984.

In addition to domestic routes which serve a large group of outlying island air strips, Solair operates outside links to Kieta on Bougainville Island in PNG, to the New Hebrides and to Australia. The Australian port is Brisbane, using an Air Pacific BACI-11

jet in a joint operation.

For the inaugural flight to Brisbane recently a party of 20 from Solomon Islands, includ ing the Prime Minister. Mr Peter Kenilorea, flew in the aircraft and were welcomed by the Queensland Premier, Mr Bjelke-Petersen. The Premier also attended an official func tion to inaugurate the new ser vice. Solair and Air Pacific are

splitting the operating costs

and revenue from the weekly flight on an equal-share basis and the service is being adver tised and operated on a joint name basis.

Solomon Islander cabin crew are being used where possible on the flight. A Solomon Islander soccer star, Wilson Maelaua, who is play ing grade football in Brisbane, has been appointed customer services supervisor for Solair at Brisbane Airport. The General Manager of Solair, Mr Paul Brown, said recently that the new link to Brisbane was regarded by the airline as its

most important international operation to date. He said that Air Pacific’s action in extend ing an invitation for the joint service was indicative of the co operative atmosphere in which large and small carriers were operating in the Pacific.

The fleet used by Solair is three Beechcraft Queenairs, three Beechcraft Barons, two Britten-Norman Islanders, an amphibious Lake Buccaneer, and a Swearingen Metro II about to be added.

Future route expansions are expected to be to the PNG

capital. Port Moresby, under

reciprocal rights with the PNG carrier Air Niugini. This would probably be additional to the

existing regional link flight to

Kieta in PNG.

The airline’s head office is at Honiara.

Commercial

venture

in W. Samoa

The Western Samoa airline is Polynesian Airlines, a commer cial venture established by local business interests 21 years ago and now operating internal

flights and regional flights to

near neighbours.

Polynesian Airlines used a Percival Prince as its first fleet unit in 1959 establishing a link with adjoining American Samoa. Historically the air line’s fleet has been of interest because it was one of the few in the world to include the

Super DC3.

The Super DCS was a last phase development of the world-famous DCS which put so many airlines on their feet from the late Thirties to the

early Sixties. Something like

11.000 DCSs were built under several designations, but the production run for the Super DCS was only 105 units im mediately after World War 11.

Its tail-wheel as well as its main undercarriage retracted into full-covered nacelles, its tail fin and wingtips were squared off, and its control systems and

engine cowlings were redesig

ned.

Polynesian Airlines was also one of the first operators out side Australia to put a GAF