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Easter Is. runway

NZPA-Reuter Santiago

Chile would extend the airport runway on Easter Island even if it did not agree to a United States request to use it as an emergency landing-strip for the space shuttle, the Navy commander, Admiral Jose Toribio Merino Castro, said yesterday. He said after meeting the President, General Augusto Pinochet, that the Government always intended to extend the runway 397 metres to accommodate larger aircraft and encourage tourism.

General Pinochet has still to decide on a reouest by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration to allow space shuttles to land on the island in an emergency. Critics of the scheme say that it could have military implications and could damage the island’s indigenous civilization. The island is famous for its ancient statues of giant heads known as Moais.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19850622.2.80.11

Bibliographic details

Press, 22 June 1985, Page 11

Word Count
135

Easter Is. runway Press, 22 June 1985, Page 11

Easter Is. runway Press, 22 June 1985, Page 11