French Claim In Air Dispute

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30339, 15 January 1964, Page 15

French Claim In Air Dispute

(K.Z. Press Association —Copyright)

CANBERRA. January 14.

France had given notice to Australia, two months before it was bound to do so, that it would not be re-negotiating its air agreement, the French Ambassador, Air F. Briere, said today.

Under the agreement, France granted Australia a weekly service between Sydney and Noumea aid I weekly service through Tahiti and the Americas to London, he said in a supplied statement Australia had been informed on October 31, before the service started, that France would not continue the agreement after December 31 last year. The Australian authorities were well aware of this, yet the French Embassy had been officially informed on November 11 last year, that Australia would start a weekly service to Tahiti, starting from November 22.

The Ambassador’s statement is the latest move in the airline war between Australia and France over Pacific services. Since December 31. the Australian airline, Qantas, has stopped its Tahiti service and substituted turbo-prop aircraft for jets on the Noumea route. France has continued its jet service through Sydney on three occasions, the last resulting in an official protest to France on January 8. Australia claims that under present arrangements only non-jet planes can operate to Noumea, and has offered to charter non-jet aircraft to the French airline, U.T,A.-Air France, or to maintain the Noumea-Sydney link with Qantas non-jet aircraft.

Weekly air services between Sydney and Noumea will end this week unless the Australian and French Governments can reach agreement.

The assistant manager for U.T.A.-Air France in Australia. Mr E. Levy, said in Sydney tonight that the last schedsiled service operated by the airline would land in Sydney tomorrow. No passengers would be permitted to disembark or be picked up. Thirty passengers booked on a French flight to Noumea from Sydney on Thursday will have to fly by way of Nandi, Fiji. In future, all weekly regular scheduled eastbound services will make refuelling stops only at Darwin and then fly direct to New Caledonia. en route to Los Angeles, by way of Nandi and Tahiti.