TASMAN AIRWAYS

Evening Star, Issue 23702, 9 October 1940, Page 2

TASMAN AIRWAYS

FOUR KCNTHS' OPERATIONS lii four months of operation, up to tho end of tho two Tasman Empire Airways flying boats Aotearoa and Awarua have flown the 1,340 miles of ocean between Auckland and Sydney 45 times, 41 of which were flown on regular time-tablo trips and four as extra flights. In the first 15 weeks of operation the time-tablo was for one flight in each direction a week, but from August 15 tho service was increased to throe flights in each direction "a fortnight in order to give a connection with the Pau-Amcrican Airways service to gain full effect to speed advantages for passengers and mails. With the two airway systems junctioning at Auckland the volume of passenger traffic on tho Tasman service has been remarkable for the opening months of an ocean service, and its steadiness and promise of certain increase suggest that before long theso time-tables will have to bo further amended to a twice-weekly service.

An outstanding feature of the operations during the four months has been the regularity of service, for this fact has proved very difficult from the forecasts made before Tasman Empire Airways. came into being, that Tasman weather conditions wore so notoriously unreliable and difficult thqj: a timetable service would be barely practicable. Such prognostications were based upon the delays and doubts of take-off and arrival during pioneer and early Tasman flights, when, with the best of co-operation between -the New Zealand and Australian Meteorological Offices, weather conditions had still, largely to be guessed at. Since then meteorological services have been vastly changed to meet the needs of air transport and flyins conditions are forecast from data gathered from a wide network of meteorological stations. How groundless were the doubts of the possibility of regular services is shown in tho “ regularity ” figures given in the statistics below:—Eastbound, 95.24 per cent.; westbound, 100 per cent.; average, 97.62 per cent. Such figures compare fully favourably with records of long-established air lines operating over land routes anywhere in tho world. Owing to tho company’s basic principle of “ safety first,” ono eastbound trip has been cancelled and two trips delayed due to exceptionally bad weather forecasted over the route. Because of the prevailing easterlywinds at flying height, eastbound flights Sydney to Auckland have on the average been three-quarters of an hour faster than westbound; but the average for all flights has been well, under 10 hours. Though the broad statistical summary for the four months does not bring out details of passenger seating, tho mouth by month figures show how steady the demand for air transport across the Tasman Ims become in so brief a time. The. normal passenger capacity of the flying boats is 15, and during the past few weeks the average of occupied seats has been 74 per cent. The figures for the four months are as follows: —

Passengers carried, 331; passenger miles, 443.540 ; mails carried. 15.6211 b ; freight, 4,5071 b; mail ton miles, 8,935; freight ton miles, 2,682; scheduled trips, 42; trips completed. 41; undue delays. 6; regularity. 97.62 per cent.; extra trips, 4; average time of crossing, 9h 14min.