BRISBANE-AUCKLAND AIR SERVICE

Northern Advocate, 19 October 1935, Page 10

BRISBANE-AUCKLAND AIR SERVICE

Progress Of Big Scheme

■GIANT PLYING BOATS NIGHT CROSSINGS TO BE MADE [From Our Parliamentary Svecial.h WELLINGTON, This Day. TJLANS for the extension over the Tasman of the Imperial Airways service from London are quickly tak- r ing shape, -and it is now possible to state that some time in 1937 all firstclass letter mails between New Zealand, Australia and countries served <_■ imperial Airways service, \vill arrive and depart twice weekly. The Tasman crossing will be made during the night hours. Large flying boats, are being built for the service, which will make the passage within 12 hours. Particulars of the type of flying boat to be utilised and many other practical details are now in the possession of the Government. They show that the scheme hass been thoroughly surveyed, and that close examination of the project by Imperial Airways’ experts has enabled pro- | posals to be worked out which are 1 more attractive than those originally sketched, when, early this year the I Postmaster-General and the Director- , General of the Post Department, paid J a visit to Australia to confer with representatives of the British Post Office on the subject. Four-Engined Craft. According to the latest proposal, it is understood that the crossing of the Tasman will be made with powerful ! 17J-tons flying boats at night. They will be of the four-engined' type, re- j cently described in a cable from j London as having been put in hand with Shortt -Brothers for the Empire service by Imperial Airways, /Ltd. These machines have a cruising speed of 140 miles an hodr, and will be capable of making the Tasman crossI ing, in either direction, in Us hours. The most notable development in the plans is that the route faycured is from Brisbane, via North Cape to Auckland. Although this involves a total distance of slightly over 1400 miles, which is far from being the shortest route between Australia and New Zealand, it will afford a very substantial advantage for a frequent service, involving two trips per week in each direction, of passing Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, en route, and a refuelling base for the flying boat will.be made available at Parehgarenga Harbours North Auckland, if by reason of. adverse winds, it became difficult to reach Auckland on the original petrol supplies. Provision is to be made for pas--1 sengers, who will have /sleeping accommodation. It is Expected that the i number of passengers carried will be ’ smaller than in the case of the flying boats recently described, as it will be necessary to carry a large weight of mail. ■ . , | Brisbane Starting Point. j The proposal to use Brisbane as the departure point for the Tasman service will mean a great saving of time in the delivery of mails throughout the Dominion, compared with the 1 system of flying all mails to Sydney. The Tasman flying boat, picking up overseas mails at Brisbane at night and reaching Auckland early next morning, will enable. New Zealand mails to reach Auckland almost as soon as the air mail could be de- ■ livered in Sydney. J Once the Tasman service is inI augurated, flying boats will carry all ’first-class letter mail to and from New Zealand and Australia, England ; and all other Empire countries served by Imperial Airways. This organisa- ; tion intends, at an early date, to proi vide a twice-weekly service, in each I direction, between England and Australia. It is responsible for the maintenance of the service as far as Darwin, from which point the Quantas Empire Company, a subsidiary concern with a very substantial proportion of Australian capital, handles the mails across the Australian continent. Important Extension. An important extension of the Im- | perial Airways service is being ini augurated this month. The fourI engined air liner, Dorado, has been i despatched from England to make a ■ series of survey flights, as a prelimin--1 ary to the establishment of a regular I connecting air service between the j England-Australia route and Hong Kong and China. | Penang has been selected as the point of contact with the England- ! Australia service. The first of the surI vey flights was arranged on October 12, and the first regular service on i this extension of the flying route, j which is already the longest in the I world, is scheduled to leave Penang j on Thursday, October 24, arriving next ! day at Hong Kong. In the reverse direction, the first service from Hong i Kong will leave on Tuesday, October : 29, establishing connections next day j at Penang, with the main Empire air mail to India, Egypt and England, and also with that flying in the other j direction to Singapore, j The latest development in the Tasplan suggests that New Zealand \ will require to handle its overseas mail j from Auckland by air, as the southern outlet, at presen% is by the Main Trunk express, not leaving until late in the afternoon. It is, therefore, likely that the Post Office will arrange air transport, at least as far as Wellington, in time to enable the southern mails I to connect with the express steamer j at Lyttelton.