TRAVEL BY AIR

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 82, 31 December 1940, Page 6

TRAVEL BY AIR

Record Figures With Small Fleet MANY EXTRA FLIGHTS Travel by air reached a peak this Christinas period, having regard to the fact that the fleet of planes available is now a quarter of what it was before the Government took over most of the commercial planes for defence purposes. Oil one day alone during the holidays there were 11 departures from and 11 arrivals at. Wellington, the passengers carried each way totalling 110. Planes can only be flown a certain number of flying hours without overhaul and the number of trios made on this particular day was the maximum possible to conform with regulations. The company thus did as much as it could to meet the public demand. The figures for the day mentioned approached close to the highest recorded when the company had its full fleet and on the day previous there were 10 departures and 11 arrivals. Union Airways Ltd. report that the Christmas traffic was heavier than in 1939 and greater than was expected. The service from Wellington to Blenheim is booked to January S. That from Wellington to Christchurch is full to January 13. There are good bookings for Nelson; yesterday afternoon there was only one seat available for tomorrow and there were full bookings for Friday and Saturday. Bookings for all lines thin out after the dates for which the above heavy bookings are recorded. The bookings are not so heavy on the Wellington-Auckland run but they are reasonably large.