AIR MAIL RATES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 79, 12 September 1947, Page 7

AIR MAIL RATES

LITTLE PROSPECT OF REDUCTION

Advice that overseas air mail postage rates were fixed in direct relationship to the charges payable by the Post Office for the conveyance of the mails between New Zealand and the country of destination, was received by the Tauranga branch of Federated Farmers of New Zealand (Auckland Province), at its monthly meeting from the Postmaster-General, the Hon. F. Hackett.

The Postmaster-General pointed out that in respect to correspondence to Great Britain the air conveyance charges alone exceeded £3 per lb. and the postage rates of Is 6d per half-ounce letter and- 8d for a lightweight air letter form, leif a margin only sufficient to cover sorting, handling and transport charges in this country. While the charges payable by the department for the overseas conveyance of air mails remained at their present level, it-was regretted that there was little prospect of any reduction in the air postage charges. It was mentioned that when the “all up” scheme, under which the postage rate from New Zealand to the United Kingdom was l|d each half ounce was in operation for a little over twelve months prior to the war, air conveyance charges were very much lower than at present, but even so the costs of the “all up” scheme exceeded the postage revenue.

“It is considered,” concluded the Postmaster-General, “that a reasonably cheap means of air mail communication to the United Kingdom and other • countries is provided by the special light-weight ' air letter form.” v

It was pointed out to the members that this “reasonably cheap” means of air mail communcation, taking 2d per half-ounce to have been a payable rate prior to the war, represented an increase of no less than 900 per cent. On a weight-for-weight basis the 8d air mail letter card represented an increase of thousands per cent. The fare of an average-weight passenger worked out at £SOO for the single journey, at a time when it was understood that air passenger fares within New Zealand were, in some instances, lower than fares by road transport.