AIR SERVICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 150, 26 June 1937, Page 13

AIR SERVICES.

CITYIS FUTURE.

AVIATION CENTRE.

TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW.

WORLD ROUTE TERMINALS.

With the inauguration to-day of thenew regular commercial air service between Auckland and Wellington yet another major landmark in the history of New Zealand aviation is passed. From tlij dream, difficult to realise, from tin' Hobby possible only to the very wealthy man, and rhe most daring, from the romantic magic carpet stage, the aeroplane is taking to-day its place in the Auckland world of 4 commerce. To-day passengers sit deep in cushioned armchairs looking over a world of .space amd*beauty as a Union air liner wings a*fa«t passage down the North Island of the Dominion. To them it is a privilege; to-morrow their seats, their comfort and their speedy travel is the right of anyone who has the money to pay his fare—just as are railway and motor services. The running of a commercial air liner from this city marks,'too, a"new t era for this fortunately-jßituated city. Already her port has brought here the ocean liners of the world. In the season Waitemata Harbour sees the arrival heTo of hundreds of touristy, travellers each week —tourists from, everyj country in the world, ships from all'places.'Now Auckland is to become also one of the major airports oi the world. In England, in America, in Australia, aviation experts are examining its possible facilities with a critical eye. Ocean Links. Already Auckland has seen the landing here of a Pan-American Clipper, bound on a mission of survey. Soon it may see such another Clipper, and then, in the near future, possibly before the end of the year, those flying ehips will be making regular landings on the Waitemata, bringing here passengers from America and Europe who have flown acrosa the widest stretch of ocean in the world. That will be the beginning of Auckland's importance as an international airport, when she becomes the terminal of Pan-American's transpacific flights.

The linking of New Zealand by air to Australia and the chain of Imperial Airways, the dream of many years, is now also approaching realisation. Thursday of this week brought a cable from London indicating that the major problems of finance and control were now being settled. It stated: "As indicated by Australia some months ago, the Commonwealth's contribution to the trans-Tasman air service will be 25 per cent. Britain and New Zealand will supply the rest." How soon the service will be inaugurated it is not yet possible to forecast. The difficulties are not as great as those that confronted the Pacific service, but it is not likely that it will be before the beginning of next year that the proposed service will be in operation. - When the trans-Tasman and the transPacific air routes are a reality, with terminals .oi bothj. the Ajqerjcan and,. Imperial Systems in tfife Dominion will join the world of the air just as she is now a part of the world of the 6ea. No longer will she be cut off by weeks of travel from the countries of older development. Fast 'planes will carry her mails, her people and urgent freight to those other countries in a few days, and equally New Zealand will be reached as shortly. Her sky-ways will become as well known as. her sea-ways, and as important. Internal Development. The starting point of her development lies internally. It began here in days just before the war when the Walsh brothers and Mr. R. A. Dexter built their own machines, taught themselves to fly, and subsequently ran the New Zealand Flying School at Kohimarama. Later aero clubs took up the burden and gradually as the people of this country became more air-minded the first commercial air services were begun. Mostly they were between small centres that were difficult and lengthy of approach by any other means. The successful pioneer flights of the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Mr. C. T. P. Ulm and other famous aviators brought the goal nearer, and prepared the people of this Dominion for the phase of to-day.

The 'plane in the sky became no longer a novelty, hut a commonplace, and the subject of aviation was equally a commonplace of conversation. The present atage had its beginnings on January 15, 1936, when the service between Palmerston North and Dunedin was begun. Since then it has developed rapidly as organisation was built up; feeder services, have developed—and to-day the inauguration of the Auckland-Wellington service links every major city of the Dominion by air. Aero Club's Part. In all this development the major impetus has come from the aero clubs. They fostered flying as a sport, and by their activities have prepared the country for commercial flying. They built and maintained or sponsored new aerodromes; they trained pilots arid carried on commercial flying. The Auckland Aero Club combines to-day at Mangere with the inauguration of the new Union Airways service by the holding of an aerial pageant, and to them is quite a large ehare of credit due. Mangere aerodrome with its equipment represents £16,000 of capital to the club, and it was not easily gained. It had to be fought for and it had to b« wisely expended. In addition the club was responsible for the creation of the reputation of aviation in the province. How well it succeeded there is exemplified in the spirit of to-day. The major feature of the inauguration is the offer by the club of a free flight over the city to the 17,000 th passenger carried in one of their 'planes—l7,ooo, and not on any occasion during one of those flights has there been the slightest cr.u-ie for anxiety. Never on those flights has so much as a piece of fabric on the machine been damaged. This large number of passengers carried by the club's commercial pilots does not include nights by amateur aero clubtrained pilots, and if these were aggregated the number would probably be in excess of those carried commercially. Jn addition to its passenger-carrying record, the club has trained 170 pilots since 1!)2H. another creditable side to its activities. These facts are influencing the Government to give greater responsibilities to the clubs in the training of pilots, who will not only sUpjily the commercial pilots who will control the big air liners on their daily schedule services, but aiso form the nucleus of the aerial defence systpm o' the Dominion. _ „