DAY’S DIFFERENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26792, 8 June 1948, Page 4

DAY’S DIFFERENCE

SAVING OF TIME “ I certainly don’t see why a flying boat should not be switched to the southern route, even if it was only once or twice a week at first,”’ said a business man familiar with air travel yesterday. “In any case, why should the people of Otago and Southland have to wait till Harewood is ready? Land plane services from Harewood simply mean dearer passenger and freight charges for the rest of the people of the South Island, to say nothing of the fact that Otago and Southland would lose all chance of direct communication by air. “The number of passengers waiting in Australia to get to New Zealand is terrific,” he added, “ and the people in Melbourne have a thin time trying to book passages on planes leaving from Sydney. A flying boat service could be started as soon as planes became available, since all that would be required in this harbour would be a bit of dredging and a little floating berth for the machine. “ The people of this province would be crazy,” he said, “if they lent support to a scheme that meant waiting for years for a service that might cut a couple of hours off the flying time between Sydney and Christchurch, but would add hours—perhaps a day or more—on the time from Melbourne to Dunedin.”