50 Passenger Ships On Britain-Australia Run

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22868, 11 February 1949, Page 6

50 Passenger Ships On Britain-Australia Run

LONDON, Dec. 16. Nearly 50 ships will be carrying passengers between Britain and Australia by. the end of the year—from cargo ships taking only three or four passengers, to the giant Governmentoperated transport Georgic, lifting 2000 migrants each voyage. Shipping authorities say there will be about 160 sailings in either direction next year. This means an average of more than three passenger sailings a week, in addition to purely cargo ships. zNormal passenger accommodation by pre-war standards is practically restored, but the migration programme means that there are still not nearly enough berths to meet present needs. Even Australians returning, home, who receive priority over other travellers, must wait up to three months for berths. The same situation applies to the air lines. The Anglo-Australian route is more fully booked than any other British air route. British Overseas Airways Corporation and Qantas say that all services to Australia are booked out till May 1. One-way Bush The first of BOAC’s new fleet of Constellations left for Australia last week. By February there will be four BOAC-Qantas Constellations in each direction a week, carrying a total of about 150 passengers each way. Both shipping and airline companies face the same problem as before the war—demands for passenger accommodation and cargo space from Britain to Australia fan exceeding requirequirements for Australia to Britain. There seems no solution of this difficulty, which means that fares and freights must remain higher.