Free trans-Tasman flights for cruise passengers

Press, 13 June 1978, Page 22

Free trans-Tasman flights for cruise passengers

I TUESDAY TRAVEL...

New Zealanders planning a Pacific cruise out of Sydney from now on are being offered free return air travel across the Tasman with three nights complimentary accommodation in Svdnev.

The scheme is an extension of P. and O.’s domestic “fly-free” programme which was introduced last year to enable cruise passengers living south of Auckland to fly at no cost to Auckland to join either the Arcadia or Oriana there.

The shipping line sees the introduction of free air trav-el to Australia as an answer to the increasing demand by New Zealanders for winter cruising. Cruise ships rarely call at New Zealand ports between April and August, but they sail at least once a fortnight all the year round from Sydney. Mr Barry Hickman, New Zealand passenger manager for P. and 0.. admits that the elimination of three days steaming across the Tasman was an operational saving the company had considered in deciding to absorb the cost of the air fares. “But research has also revealed that passengers prefer to reach the tropical climates as quickly as possible and the fly/cruise plan certainly goes a long way to satisfying that desire,” he added. The free epic-class air travel applies only to those cruises that begin and end in Sydney. Mr Hickman gave an assurance that the line’s cruise ships would still call

at New Zealand ports during the summer season.

Mount Cook Airlines was last month included in the shipping line’s domestic “fly-free" plan, a move which will afford cruise passengers from the Bay of Islands. Queenstown, Alexandra, and Te Anau the same benefits as passengers living in areas served by Air New Zealand. Mr Hickman announced during his interview with “Tuesday Travel” that P. and O. will be operating two liner voyages to England next year. The 45,000-ton Canberra, the second largest passenger ship in the world, will sail in February from Auckland on a 52-night voyage to Southampton via the Far East, South Africa, and South America. In April, the 42,000-ton Oriana will set a course for Southampton via the Pacific, North America, and the Caribbean. The Oriana. which is currently working on her northern summer cruise programme in the Mediterranean, will return to Auckland m December, and then leave immediately on a special Indian Ocean cruise. This, the first for several years, will call at Sydney, Bali, Singapore. Madras. Colombo, the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney. Fares for the 42-night cruise range from about $2234.

P. and O. have made arrangements for passengers who are unable to spend all 42 nights at sea and who wish to spend Christmas at home to fly out of Auckland on December 29 to join the ship at Singapore.