GROWTH OF AIR TRANSPORT

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26726, 9 May 1952, Page 10

GROWTH OF AIR TRANSPORT

“HIGHLY COMPETITIVE WITH RAIL” PASSENGER AND FREIGHT SERVICES (New Zealand Press Association; WELLINGTON, May 8. “In the future, most of the longdistance passenger traffic will probably be carried by air transport,” said the Director of Civil Aviation (Mr E. A. Gibson) in evidence to-day before the Royal Commission on Railways. Mr Gibson said air transport was highly competitive with rail transport. While the railways were losing passenger traffic, air services were rapidly expanding, and it appeared that they would continue to do so.

Mr Gibson said that, in the field of air freight and air parcel express traffic, the trend was even more rapid than was the case with long-distance passenger traffic. Although it could be established that increasing quantities of valuable goods and express parcels would be carried by plane, it Was unlikely that in the next five years any significant quantity of bulk merchandise would be sent by air as a primary means of transport. Air transport had the competitive advantages of speed, comfort, and freouency of services, said Mr Gibson. These justified the higher fares charged. The railways provided a rather ‘tiring service over long distances. Mr Gibson said that from 1945 to 1951 the number of passengers—excluding those on suburban services and at reduced fares—carried by rail had decreased from 5.860:470 a year to 4.023.850. In the same period, the number of passengers carried by air had increased from 57,016 a year to 238.405. This number had further increased to 301,000 in the 1951-52 period. Future Passenger Traffic Mr Gibson said the National Airways Corporation was basing its plans for the immediate future on a minimum annual accretion of 20 per cent, in passenger traffic. Such an increase would probably decrease further the number of passengers carried by rail, and -reduce railway revenue without any noticeable effect on railway expenditure. “If the rate of development of passenger travel by air over the last four years is continued, some 480,000 passengers can be expected by March 31, 1956," he said. “The reopening of Rongotai airport can be expected to have a major influence on the rapidity with which air travel will increase. From whatever angle the development of traffic over the next five years is considered, a figure of 500,000 passengers is not an unreasonable estimate.” Mr Gibson suggested that an investigation into the financial and technical aspects of transferring long-distance travel from rail to air might produce useful results. Such an investigation could be performed only by a team of experts, and would take a considerable time. Mr J. S. Hunter, deputy chairman of of the board of directors of the National Airways Corporation, told the commission that although there was still a margin in fares between rail and air, it was not so great as to detract from the advantages of air transport. For the year ended on March 31, 1952, air passenger journeys represented one in every 6.4 of population. “Public patronage of the air services is steadily increasing, and though some proportion of the traffic may be new business specially generated by the particular advantages of air travel, there can be no doubt that some proportion has also been attracted to the air from rail and other surface transport,” Mr Hunter added.