Keeping up with the jets

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33093, 7 December 1972, Page 16

Keeping up with the jets

The first scheduled flight to Christchurch last Sunday of one of the new generation of airliners was a reminder of the great amount of work that still has to be done at the city’s international airport. So far, Christchurch has managed to keep abreast of the developments in the fast-moving world of air transport Naturally, in their efforts to satisfy their customers and to exploit technical advances, the airlines make their needs and expectations known—and supply much of the equipment needed to handle passengers and cargo. But the airport committee of the Christchurch City Council, its officers, and the associated Government departments have all shown considerable foresight and energy in preparing to meet these requirements. For those concerned with the reception and departure of passengers, with the movement and loading of aircraft, and with the sorting and dispatching of cargoes, the advent of the jumbo jets is probably the airport’s greatest challenge. Although the Qantas schedule for its 7478 flights across the Tasman offers Christchurch a fairly easy initiation to the wide-jet club, last Sunday’s effort proved a commendable success. Qantas expects that the business for the 7478 s will taper off at the end of the summer; that remains to be seen. And soon Air New Zealand will entec the field with its new DCIO airliners. The airport will then be under considerable pressure all the year round. Wherever the big jets have flown they have generated new business. Work will begin next year on the extension of the domestic passenger services terminal at the airport. Within two years a new international wing should be under construction: and it will probably have to be equipped with telescopic gangways to carry passengers directly between the aircraft and the terminal building. Until the airport has a giant tug, costing about $lOO,OOO and capable of hauling a 350-ton aircraft, the possibility of having to move a 7478 without its own power gives cause for apprehension. The air cargo terminal will soon be enlarged at a cost of about $120,000; Air New Zealand will require the lease of yet another extension to the cargo terminal and intends to install roller floors for the ready movement of the growing container traffic.

Long before these jobs are finished the big jets —or, rather, the people who use them—will have put the airport under strain. Airport development is but one of the many major undertakings facing Christchurch: but keeping abreast or ahead of the times has paid for itself in the past; and air transport has brought benefits to Canterbury and the rest of the South Island far outweighing the cost of Improving the airport. The next stages of development should be pushed ahead with the same vigour that ensured the establishment and subsequent development of the airport. Public investment should match the enthusiasm of the men and women in an industry that thrives on innovation.