Heavy traffic at airport likely

Press, 23 August 1976, Page 1

Heavy traffic at airport likely

Traffic is likely to be heavy at Christchurch Airpert today — the first day of the August school holiday’s — as National Airways staff try to clear the backlog of passengers delayed yesterday, and cope with the normal heavy Monday bookings. The airport was '‘marginal” to traffic for much of yesterday, after heavy morning fog drifted across Christchurch from Lake Ellesmere, adding to the cloud which hung as low as 200 ft for much of the day.

The Duty Traffic Supervisor (Mr P. Sullivan) said there had been about 250 people stranded at Christchurch, and others at Invercargill, Wellington, and Auckland. About 300 people had been unable to fly into Christchurch from other centres.

One party of Auckland schoolchildren at the end of a South Island tour had been forced to stay an additional day in Christchurch. and another group of children on a flight from Invercargill had been accommodated in Wellington, he said. A few unaccompanied children, bound for other - centres, had also had to be looked after, Mr Sullivan said.

Because there were not the usual number of aircraft at Christchurch overnight, it would take longer to begin schedules this morning — and the Meteorological Office has said that there is likely to be further morning fog, fSbugh this should clear between 9 am. and 10 a.m. Three Boeing and two Friendship aircraft would usually be at Christchurch on a Monday morning, said Mr Sullivan. National Air-

ways had chartered a Hawker Siddeley from Mount Cook Airlines to cope with the heavier traffic.

Because of delays yesterday, there would probably be two special flights — to Wellington at 5.30 p.m., and to Auckland at 7.50 p.m. — using DCBs chartered from Air New Zealand. This would be the earliest that National Airways could move some of the passengers delayed yesterday, Mr Sullivan said.

Scheduled flights into Christchurch were not the only ones disrupted yesterday. The Qantas Boeing Jumbo flight from Sydney made an attempt to land its 310 passengers at 6.25 p.m., but was diverted to Auckland. It overshot Auckland to return to Sydney on hearing that there was insufficient overnight accommodation in Auckland for its passengers. This left 250 passengers waiting at Christchurch for the return trip to Sydney—but Air New Zealand staff were able to find beds for them without difficulty. A flight from Melbourne scheduled to arrive at Christchurch late last evening was postponed, and is now expected at 12.40 p.m. today. The Air New Zealand flight to Sydney at 11 a.m. is expected to leave on time.

Mr Sullivan said that telephonists on the airport’s two after-hours lines had last evening answered about 100 calls an hour.

Passenger services were not the only flights disrupted yesterday. The Bristol Freighter which carries the “Sunday Times” did not seem to have kept its 3 a.m. appointment at Christchurch.