PROGRESS OF AIR TRAVEL

Southland Times, Issue 23435, 16 February 1938, Page 6

PROGRESS OF AIR TRAVEL

“New Zealand Already Leads The World” USE OF SERVICES BY POPULATION (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 15. A statement that New Zealand probably leads the world in the use made of passenger air services is made by the committee of investigation which had just reported on the selection of a site for an airport in Auckland. The members of the committee were the Engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department (Mr J. Wood), chairman, the Chief of the Air Staff (GroupCaptain the Hon. R. A. Cochrane) and the Director of Civil Aviation (GroupCaptain T. M. Wilkes). “It must be borne in mind that New Zealand is a country well suited for air services,” states the report. “The centres of population are widely spaced, land surfaces transport is, in general, over difficult country and is relatively inconvenient when compared with that in other countries and surface transport is further complicated by the division of the population into two islands. “In proof of these statements it is interesting to note that although the major air services have not yet been operating for two years, a greater percentage of the population of the Dominion travels by air than in any state of the Australian Commonwealth, than within Great Britain or between Great Britain and the Continent or, most surprising of all, than within the United States,” added the committee. Because of the difficulty of obtaining statistics from Continental countries, other comparisons are not available, but for the reasons quoted it may be assumed that of the civilized countries New Zealand probably already leads the world in the use made of passenger air services.”