AIRWAYS EXTENSION

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 198, 19 May 1936, Page 8

AIRWAYS EXTENSION

Wellington-Hokitika Development WORK ON AERODROMES Plans for the extension of the service linking Wellington, Blenheim and Nelson to Hokitika via Westport and Greymouth are now being made by Cook Strait Airways. At Hokitika the service will link with Air Travel (N.Z.), Ltd., which serves South Westland A D.H. Rapide, similar to the machines at present used on the Cook Strait service, has been ordered in England. It is expected to be delivered in London next month and to arrive in New Zealand in August. Probably the Wellington-Hokitika service will open in October. The date of the extension, however, depends on the condition of the aerodromes, upon which improvement work is at present being carried out by the Public Works Department. The Hokitika ami Greymouth grounds are expected to be available for use by commercial machines by October. At Hokitika the old aerodrome has been improved by the extension and levelling of the runways and a new runway is being provided by filling in a creek-bed and taking in extra ground. When finished the ground will have runways approximately 550 yards north-west and south-east, 750 yards north-east and south-west and 700 yards east and west. A stop-bank has been made around the ground to prevent Hooding by the Hokitika River. About 150 men are at present employed at Hokitika. At Greymouth an aerodrome is being constructed ou the beach, an area of nearby lagoon being taken in to give more room. The levelling is finished and top-dressing is being done on the sand to bind the surface. This ground will have a north and south runway of about 600 yards, one northeast and south-west of about 570 yards and one into the north-west wind of about 550 yards. About 150 men have been working on the ground for some time, but the construction is so far advanced that the number was recently reduced to about 100. At Westport an aerodrome is being constructed on a sand area between the river and the sea. Runways have been levelled and will now be covered with clav to solidify the surface, in maintaining which precautions have to be taken against humps and hollows being made by wind action. One runway will be 640 yards and the other 4SO yards. It is not known when the ground will be ready for regular use. West Coast aerodromes are notable for the advantage of close proximity to the towns. That, at Hokitika is just over the river from the business area, and those at Greymouth and Westport are less than a mile from the centre of the towns.