TASMAN AIR LINE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 248, 31 July 1937, Page 2

TASMAN AIR LINE

TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT. EXPLANATION BY PREMIER. (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, July 30 ; “The statement from .Sydney by Sir Archdale Parkliili (Commonwealth Minister for Defence) regarding the transTasman air service is in conformity with the terms of the agreement arrived at by the civil aviation conference of representatives of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand at Wellington in September and October last year,” said the Prime Minister (the lit. Hon. M. J. Savage) in an interview. “Moreover, the terms were farther discussed in London during the period of the Imperial Conference. The agreement provides for the creation of a new operating company registered in New Zealand to conduct the trans-Tasman air service,” said Mr Savage. “The Governments concerned shall each appoint either a Government Air Commission or an existing company or it shall constitute a new company to represent its interests, and each commission or company so appointed shall nominate three directors of the operating company. In effect, this arrangement will result in each Government being represented on a joint board of the operating company and the pertormance of the terms of the agreement shall be supervised by three Government representatives, one to be appointed by each of the three Governments. “It is provided that the operating company shall be licensed to operate a trans-Tasman air service and shall be granted contracts for the carriage of mail by New Zealand, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the United Kingdom. Basis of Subsidies. “To enable the service to be carried on, the three Governments shall make annual payments to the operating company. These payments will be subject to revision at the end of three years from the commencement of the service and thereafter at tliree-yearly intervals during the continuance of the agreement. “During the first three years of operation,” the Prime Minister explained, “the three Governments concerned shall make contributions in these proportions: Australia 23 'per cent., United Kingdom 38 per cent,, and New Zealand 39 per cent. The revenue from postal rates to be charged to other countries using the service shall be apportioned to the three Governments on the basis I have mentioned for contributions to the operating company. “Although somewhat delayed because of the necessity for three-cornered negotiations, it is thoroughly satisfactory to New Zealand. The operating company is to be under our eyes, and the important part of its services is to be in close touch with the interests of the people. It is true that our part in he contributions is the largest, but then so is our share in the distribution of the revenue.”