Southern Alps sparkle for first flight

Press, 14 October 1986, Page 35

Southern Alps sparkle for first flight

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

Which city is closer to Singapore — Auckland or Christchurch? Take a quick look at a map if you wish, but prepare yourself for a surprise: Christchurch wins by a nose. Singapore Airlines has charted the distance as 8398 km, a mere 6km closer to Singapore than Auckland’s 8404 km.

The actual flight times are, of course, the same. Last week’s inaugural flight took nine hours over a route that passed across Bali, Alice Springs and Sydney. (Flights from New Zealand take about an hour longer because of the high altitude prevailing head winds). Passengers on Wednesday had a superb view of the West Coast and the snow-capped Southern Alps before the aircraft descended into a dense layer of rain cloud over the Canterbury Plains and Christchurch.

The new weekly direct link allows passengers to arrive in Christchurch four hours earlier than they would if transiting in the traditional way through Auckland. The

service also eliminates the hassle of moving from Auckland’s international terminal to the domestic terminal to connect with an internal flight. Singapore Airlines’ return flight from Christchurch to Singapore will land at Auckland en route, but southern passengers will be cleared by Customs and Immigration officers at Christchurch. They will, however, have to stay in the transit lounge at Auckland. The service is expected to become popular with exporters wanting a fast, same aircraft freight link with Asia.