Air service changes anger Cook Islands

Press, 28 October 1981, Page 12

Air service changes anger Cook Islands

PA Auckland The Premier of the Cook Islands, Sir Tom Davis, has hit put at New Zealand’s “unsympathetic” Government. Sir Tom, who is in Auckland, said that the Government had shown a complete lack of-..care by constantly Changing Air New Zealand’s flight schedules to the Cook Islands during the last year. The Government’s latest move— chopping Rarotonga as a stop-over for its international flights and cutting one Boeing 737 flight every second week — was the last straw. Sir Tom and the Cook Islands’ Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Vincent Ingram, will have discussions with the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) on Thursday. The deleted air services would be extremely damaging economically, Sir Tom said. Tourism was a significant industry for the Cook Islands, with many of the people having sunk their life savings into it, he said. More than half the tourist beds were locally owned, and it was Cook Islanders who were going to be badly hit. Tour firms had completely deleted the Cook Islands from their books because of .uncertainty about flights. Sir Tom said that the New

Zealand Government was not keeping its side of an agreement drawn up in 1969, which said that New Zealand must give the Cook Islands adequate air services. Sir Tom said that while in New Zealand he would be questioning .this country’s involvement in Cook Islands civil aviation. The New Zealand Government had been refusing landing rights to all other airlines wanting to come to the Cook Islands. This was making it hard for produce to be exported. The recent Air New Zealand cuts meant , that some crops, such as pawpaw, had to be halved for export. “We are a nation trying to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps.” Sir Tom said.

"We can’t afford this kind of economic damage.” In Wellington Mr Muldoon said that it was a matter for Air New Zealand to fix its own timetables. Changes did not have to be cleared by the Government. Asked if the Government would ask Air New Zealand to change its plans, Mr Muldoon said that the whole question of Pacific schedules was in the melting pot. The Government would be keeping a close eye bn scheduling. At the moment the schedules of four or five Pacific airlines, excluding the international carriers were overlapping. Mr Muldoon said that he would talk to Sir Tpm about airline services . and other matters which he might wish to rajse. . y.-..