AIR TRAVEL

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 154, 28 December 1936, Page 8

AIR TRAVEL

CHRISTMAS TRAFFIC

EXTRA TRIPS MADE

PASSENGER RETURNS

More people took to the air as a means of travel this Christmas thanever before in New Zealand. The extra trips made by Union Airways' machines and on the Cook Strait Airways' services, and also the number of passengers carried provide further evidence that air travel in the Do- '. minion is growing and is becoming just another form of transport. Rongotai airport was busy during j the Christmas period. On the Cook Strait Airways' service, connecting Wellington, Blenheim, and Nelson, there were nine trips from Wellington on December 23 and nine to Wellington. There were twelve trips j each way on December 24, and seven] trips each way on Boxing Day. Three trips scheduled for the morning of Christmas Day had to be cancelled owing to bad weather. On the three days—December 23, December 24, and Boxing Day—Cook Strait Airways' machines took 154 passengers from Wellington and on the trips to Wellington carried 144 passengers, a total of 298 passengers. There were 41 passengers from Wellington on the seven trips on Boxing Day. One machine did the normal, morning running on December 23 and two machines were operating in,the afternoon. On December 24, one machine was used for the morning flights and | three in the afternoon. A double morning service was provided on December 26, two machines being used, and one machine was in operation in the afternoon. These aeroplanes '.iave ! accommodation for six passengers, but whether six are carried or not depends upon the total weight. If the passengers are heavy, it may only be possible to carry five. In view of this the fact that on the seven trips from Wellington on Boxing Day 41 passengers were carried is striking evidence of the growing popularity of air travel. Union Airways' big De Havilland 86 machines, which maintain the two-way service between Palmerston North and Dunedin, with stopping places en route at Blenheim and Christchurch, were also well patronised. The passenger traffic offering between Palmerston North and Christchurch was such that special trips were made on December 24 and December 25. All told, 191 passengers were carried by Union Airways' machines in. four days, this total affording another illustration of the use made this Christmas of air travel facilities. Detailed returns of the passengers carried are as follows: — December 23: South-bound, 19; northbound, 18. December 24: South-bound, 19; north-bound, 15; special trip, Palmerston North to Christchurch, via Blenheim, also return, south-bound, 13; north-bound, 10. December 25: Southbound, 16; north-bound, 17; special trip Palmerston North to Christchurch, via Blenheim, also return to Palmerston North, south-bound, 13; north-bound 14. December 26: South-bound, 19; northbound, 18.