AUSTRALIAN AIR SERVICE

Taranaki Daily News, 3 November 1926, Page 9

AUSTRALIAN AIR SERVICE

PASSENGERS TO TASMANIA. MELBOURNE COMPANY FORMING It was stated in Melbourne a week or two ago that arrangements are being completed for the flotation in Melbourne o£ a company with a capital of £lOO,OOO to institute and control a regular daily aerial service bewteen Melbourne and Launceston, Tasmania. It is understood that the company will own four amphibian machines, each capable of carrying 12 passengers. In working out the possibilities of the service an estimate that the machines will carry nine passengers or three-quarter load has been used as a basis. It is proposed to charge £4 for the trip, which with a subsidy of 4s a mile, will, it is considered, make the service a payable proposition. Only three of the four machines will be in constant use, the other being kept in reserve. Going by way of Wilson’s Promontory and Flinders Island the journey of 293 miles will be completed in about three hours. Experts have reported that only flying boats are practicable for this service. The amphibian plane, which carries wheels that can be folded under the wings when the machine alights on water, has a very good cruising speed.