Proposed Antarctic Flights Postponed

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31781, 11 September 1968, Page 16

Proposed Antarctic Flights Postponed

Any plans Air New Zealand might have to fly tourists to the Antarctic—using a DCB for day'trips—have been postponed to the 1369-1970 season, said an airline spokesman in Auckland yesterday. Air New Zealand and the Holm Shipping Company, in a joint statement released yesterday, said that because of insufficient time to organise Antarctic tours this season they are both postponing any arrangements for them until the summer of 1969-1970. The original idea was for the Holm Company to anchor the vessel Magga Dan in MeMurdo Sound, and to use it as a floating hotel for tourists who would be taken down by air.

To make the flights an economic proposition, the airline had considered running day trips using a DCB. The Magga Dan can accommodate

only 24 persons, so that the balance of the seats in the DCB could be offered to dayflight tourists. “The Holm Company was tied to an agreement with Linblad Travel Inc., to give it the first option on the Magga Dan in the coming season. The company was therefore unable to put any new proposals to Air New Zealand until Mr L. Linblad indicated in July that he preferred to operate his tours this year from South America to the Antarctic Peninsula," said the statement.

In the interval, the airline and the shipping company have made considerable progress in investigating the feasibility of making commercial flights to the Antarctic. “Both Air New Zealand and the Holm company are optimistic that during the 19691970 summer season they will be able to arrange tours which appeal to many persons, and which will be cheaper than previous charges,” said the airline spokesman. In future, indications suggested a strong possibility of the airline going to the Antarctic, then Air New Zealand would send a technical team to investigate runway conditions and related facilities. Such a team would include a DCB captain and a maintenance engineer—and it was more than likely the captain would be the man to take the aircraft down, said the spokesman. He indicated that the airline hoped it would have a chance of providing flights to the Antarctic, although it was unlikely to proceed with such a project if the Holm Shipping Company proposals failed, and there was no public demand for tours.