Trans-Tasman flights

Press, 6 March 1978, Page 16

Trans-Tasman flights

Suggestions that the reduced frequency of trans-Tasman Hights this winter is part of a plot to downgrade the international status of Christchurch’s airport are not supported by the facts. The proposed reduction of the summertime daily service to one of six days a week from the end of May until the middle of August is nothing new. Indeed, the number of flights will be the same as last winter. However, the decision of Air New Zealand and Qantas to use only wide-bodied aircraft will provide an extra 6300 seats and an even far greater capacity for freight than last year. The bigger aircraft will also produce a substantial increase in landing fees—B2o47 for a 747, for example, compared to $874 for the smaller 707. Even more important, the replacement of the airlines’ ageing DCBs and 707 s by the more efficient DClOs and 747 s will ensure that Christchurch

keeps pace with world-wide trends in aviation. This, surely, was the ultimate reason for extending the runways and enlarging the terminal—improvements now acknowledged by the airlines as necessary and economically desirable. Their decision to phase out aircraft that are both obsolete and uneconomic should serve to remind the Government of the incongruous situation at Wellington. An estimated $4O million will be needed to upgrade Rongotai for DClOs and 747 s—a totally unjustified expenditure in view of the proximity of the established and well-proven international facilities at Christchurch and Auckland. The Government cannot afford to procrastinate any longer The sooner it demonstrates sagacity by decreeing that New Zealand can afford —and needs—only two international airports, the sooner they will be used to their full advantage.