Direct air link with London

Press, 15 October 1986, Page 26

Direct air link with London

British Airways will fly into Christchurch on Friday, October 31.

The service, which will be the first direct service between Christchurch and London, is an "exciting and innovating expansion” of British Airways’ presence in New Zealand and a move that had long been planned by the airline, says Mr N. R. D. Tait, British Airways’ General Manager, Australia/New Zealand. “It is a move which will have major importance

for the South Island as a tourist destination, and at the same time it will make international travel easier for South Islanders themselves,” Mr Tait said.

Christchurch is the 153rd city to be served from London, and it is the furthest point served by British Airways. The link effectively brings Christchurch closer to Europe. Mr Tait said the move, to Christchurch had been made possible with the introduction of a third

service into New Zealand by British Airways in December, affording it the necessary aircraft capacity. The airlinecould now provide the same-aircraft service, from Christchurch, and bring Singapore and Perth on-line to Christchurch.

This had occurred at an opportune time to coincide with tourism growth throughout New Zealand and the South Island in particular. The Minister for Overseas Trade and Tourism, Mr Mike Moore, had said that the country was poised on the brink of a tourist explosion that would inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the New Zealand economy. Recent figures indicated that tourism had become the fourth largest foreign exchange earner, bringing in more than $1.2 billion, and could be worth $1.6 billion within the next four years, Mr Tait said.

Over the next four years visiting arrivals were expected to reach 900,000 annually (670,000 visitors were recorded to March 31, 1986) and al-

ready 84,000 jobs had been created to cope with them.

The Minister anticipated another 21,000 jobs would be created in the construction industry alone, between now and 1990, building new international hotels to cater for the visitor boom.

Mr Tait said the South Island had always had strong cultural and trade ties with Britain, and the new direct service would be beneficial to the region’s exporters, operating as it would via the Middle East to Europe and Britain. The service is scheduled to fly from Perth to Christchurch, then Auckland before returning to London via Perth and Singapore. “There will be no change of aircraft on the direct service from Christchurch, and that will be welcomed both by passengers for their own comfort and convenience, and exporters who need the assurance that cargo will travel swiftly and directly without transshipment,” Mr Tait said.