Air Freight Service To Be Tried Soon

Chronicle (Levin), 30 January 1948, Page 2

Air Freight Service To Be Tried Soon

INVERCARGILL,' Jan. "29. In about tvvo or three •months National Airwavs Corporation intends 'to sla'rt aa air freight service fron. Dunedin to the main centres in the north. ':Thi,s information was given by Sir Leonard Isitt, chairman. . of the corporation, todav. In>reply to a. question about carrying fruit and oysters by air, Sir Leonard said these were .seasonal products but speeial arrangements could be made to transport them by air if there were a demand for it. Dealing with the general question of carrying goods by air, Sir Leonard said mails . and small parcels were at present carried in passeuger planes but though the charges were not unreasonable, this service was operating to only 65 per eent. of its capacity. There was also an air freight service operated by the Railways Departnient between Paraparaumu and Blenheim. He said the cost of transport on the air ff.eight service which tlie corporation intended to operate from Dunedin north, would be about 2s 6d a ton mile. That was not cheap but it was impossible for- the corporation to operate anv service at less than cosl. " Some people seem to tliink this uew service will be a.goldmine but I, anr not ihj. .jjj usjiSHtax t'-'v.Jvij , Ti ■•ij,.. optnnistic,,r Sir Leonard aaded. - ' 1 hope tlie various Chambers of Commerce that have assured' us the freighv is there, are correct. I think the arrcraft will delinitelv carry certain typo-1 of goods but air transport is not the alternative to ground transport. This has been proved in Canada where they have been operating air services for u long time. In that eountrv freight services run Lo the northwest provinces but they cannot compele with ground transport for busiuess betwepn sucli places as Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. I have been told that if we carried racehorses by air, the . planes with racehorses would never be out or the air but the faet roinains that to dale only three racehorses lihve been carried by air between the Continem, and* Britain. However, New Zealand has offen led the rest of the world and ° she niay do so here. " Sir Leonard poinled out that aircrati could not hope to compiite in tlie carriage of many classes of .goods, against/the railways, which, in some cases, charged only a fraction of a penny per ton mile.