N.Z. Britain Air Charters Sought

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31519, 6 November 1967, Page 10

N.Z. Britain Air Charters Sought

(Special Crspdt. N Z P.A ) LONDON, Nov. 3. Further pressure for the opening of charter flight traffic between New Zealand and the United Kingdom is building up in London.

In spite of the obvious reluctance of scheduled airline ' operators and governments to encourage any growth in charter traffic on this route, , there is no doubt the prospect of cheaper fares held out ! by the development of charters has caused much excite- ’ ment in the New Zealand; community in London. I It presents to many people. ! who would never be able to ' I afford even the cheapest avail- j I able fares on scheduled services, an opportunity of see- ' I ing friends and relatives . which they had thought would never occur. ■ Airline representatives, while not discounting the merits of charters on transatlantic and British European , routes—now so established no-one could doubt their practicability—continue to raise doubts about the potential of them on routes as big as that ] from London to Auckland. , Government Lines Various points are raised, i among them the harm charter i traffic could do to govern- I ment-backed airlines such as i Air New Zealand, the “pro- I

fitability factor,” as it would affect scheduled operators required to keep services running whether payloads are available or not, and doubts about the safety of some charter airline companies. . The same arguments were heard when charter traffic was opened up on the transatlantic and British European routes. They still crop up from time to time but a majority of the British public is strongly in favour of them. After all they have brought the pleasure' of air holidays abroad within reach of millions who could never have previously afforded them. Civil aviation authorities have in many instances a prime responsibility of ensuring airlines conform to safety standards. There is no reason to doubt they would be less conscientious in enforcing standards on charter Hight operators as they are on scheduled operators—or on the planes used by scheduled operators for charter flights. In essence it seems two factors are primarily hindering acceptance of charter Hights, even by scheduled operators alone, on the United Kingdom route. The first is the effect of them on Gov-ernment-owned airlines—perhaps the biggest factor influencing the New Zealand Government—and the second appears to be doubts of scheduled operators about the economics. Both can probably only be resolved by the issuing of authority for a limited number of flights such as that now to be undertaken by 8.0.A.C. for the Australia,

New Zealand Parents’ and Relatives’ Association. This association contemplates seeking further charters and a new organisation, formed only three weeks ago, I the Commonwealth Families and Friendship Society, is almost certain to attempt to arrange some. In fact, the high cost of air travel to and from Australia led to the formation of the new society. Its president and founder, Mr Colin Luke, of Dagenham, Essex, has a brother living in Australia. His mother wanted to visit Australia but found the cost to be prohibitive. Mr Luke was a member of the AngloAmerican society, which promotes friendship between the two countries and organises charter flights for its members, and queried whether it would be possible to have a similar organisation covering New Zealand and Australia, land Britain 30 MEMBERS Since then he has recruited 30 members for the society and is “getting around” Australian and New Zealand circles in a bid to find more. “I don’t believe the charter flights arranged by organisations like ours affect the services of scheduled operators because those people who travel on them could not afford to fly on scheduled services anyway," he said today. “These flights tap a market scheduled services can’t lap. In some ways they make a dream come true for parents who have given up hope that they might ever again see their sons and daughters.” Mr Luke said he had been

told, for example, of a New Zealand woman in her early 30s who had been living in London for about 14 years. For some time her husband had been ill and any prospect she might have had of returning home for a period to see her parents appeared to have vanished. But the prospect of a trip through a charter flight had given her new hope. She could raise the money needed to travel on such a flight but had 'little chance of getting sufficient to travel by scheduled service. Mr Luke hopes it might be possible to form an affiliated organisation in New Zealand and asked if people interested could communicate with him through his address at 45 Mayesbrook Road. Dagenham, Essex.