SUNDAY AIR TRAFFIC

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28700, 25 September 1958, Page 12

SUNDAY AIR TRAFFIC

Demand Created By Viscount

Placed on the ChristchurchAuckland Sunday service last month to carry-,-in one return flight—the passengers normally travelling on DC-3 flights, the National Airways Corporation's Viscount airliner has created such a demand that its scheduled running is now unable to cope with passengers offering. On each of the last two Sundays all north and south-bound flights have been filled to capacity. Extra loading has been accommodated in DC-3 flights. It is said that without bolstering by extra flights previous DC-3 schedules would be unable to carry the traffic which the Viscount is credited with stimulating. When the service began on August 24 the Viscount carried a full load of 60 passengers from Christchurch to Auckland and returned with 54 passengers. On August 31 it went north with 54 persons and south with 55 persons and on September 7 took 55 persons to Auckland and returned With 50. The demand was such on September 7 that the Viscount had to make another flight to Auckland to meet it. taking 30 passengers north and returning with 33 passengers.

On September 14 and 21, 240 passengers were carried by the Viscount in ' four flights—each a full loading: Travellers whose preferred time of departure from either Auckland or Christchiirch is later than the Viscount’s schedule are accommodated in DC-3’s, but on flights when the Viscount is full the number of DC-3 passengers on the route has risen. This is said to indicate the popularity of the Viscount.

The manager of the corporation’s Christchurch branch (Mr J. E. Davies) said yesterday that the situation would be eased in a few months with the delivery of the next two Viscounts. It was expected that one would arrive in January and one in February to help with some proportion of summer holiday traffic, he said.