HEAVY AIRWAY TRAFFIC

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22367, 2 April 1938, Page 13

HEAVY AIRWAY TRAFFIC

, ■ SPECIAL EASTER TRIPS INCREASE IN USE OF SERVICES Good Friday this year will be the busiest for the . services operated by Union Airways since their inauguration. With the regular services and the special trips that will be run there will be in all five arrivals and five departures of passenger machines frdtn Wigram aerodrome between 9.25 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to the time-table proposed. There will be two early trips one northbound and one southbound, leaving Dunedin ton North at 7.45 a.m. The north bound machine will arrive in Christchurch at 9,25 a.m. and will leave 10 minutes later. The early machine from Palmerston North will aruve: at 10 a.m., but will not go on to Dunedin. The ordinary northbound machine will then arrivte at 9.55 and leaves at 10.5. At 10.30 a special machine will leave for Wellington, arriving at 11.4 j. innext arrival will be that of the ordinary southbound machine at 1.10 p.m. It will depart at 1.20, and 10 1 minutes later a special machine will arrive from Wellington. The last departure will be at 2 p.m., when there will be another special trip to Wellington. On the Thursday before there will bo a special southbound trip, on which the machine will arrive from Palmerston North at 3.10 p.m. and leave for Dunedin at 3.20 p.m. On : the following Tuesday there will be two special northbound trips, beginning the journey from Christchurch at 10.15 and 11.30 a.m., and arriving at Palmerston North at 12.30 and 2.5 p.m. There will also be two special trips from Palmerston North to Chrisl;- ; church, arriving 'at 9.45 and 11.5 a.m. Special trips were made at Easter last year, but the programme is bigger still this year, and the new Lockheed machines will be used on some of the special trips. Anticipation of heavy Easter traffic is justified by the increase shown in the use of the air services this year, both for passengers and mails. Last

month 259 passengers wefe carried, as compared with 223 in March of last year. For the first three months of the year there were 896 passengers, as compared with 652 last year. Outward mail in March was the heaviest ever carried in any one calendar month, although the daily average in February,, a shorter month, was slightly higher. The total for March was 31,315 letters and 135 parcels, as compared with 21,236 letters and 99 parcels last year. The total for the quarter was 86,456 letters and 391 parcels, as compared with 55,318’ letters and 226 parcels for the same period last year.