AB FREIGHT INTER-ISLAND SERVICE SOON

Grey River Argus, 30 January 1948, Page 5

AB FREIGHT INTER-ISLAND SERVICE SOON

Available for Racehorses

P.A. INVERCARGILL, Jan. 29 In about two or three months the National Airways Corporation intends to start an air freight service from Dunedin to the main centres in the north. This information was given by Sir Leonard Isitt, chairman of the Corporation, to-day.

In reply to a question about the carrying of fruit and oysters by air, Sir Leonard said that these were seasonal products, but special arrangements could be made to transport them by air, if there were a demana for it.

Dealing with the general question of carrying goods by air, Sir Deonaro said that mails and small parcels were at present carried in passenger planes, but, though the charges were not unreasonable, this service was operating to only 65 per cent, of Its capacity. There was also an air freight service operated by the Railways Department between Paraparaumu and Blenheim.

He said that tne cost of transport on the air freight service which the Corporation intended to operate from Dunedin to the north would be about 2s 6d per ton mile. That was not cheap, but it was impossible for the corporation to operate any service at less cost.

“Some people seem to think that this new service will be a gold mine, but I am not optimistic,” Sir Leonard added. “I hope that the various Chambers of Commerce that have assured us that the freight is there are correct. I think that _ aircraft will definitely carry certain types of goods, but air transport is not an alternative to ground transport. This has been proved in Canada, where th?y have been operating air services for a long time. In that country, freight services run to the North West provinces but they cannot compete with the ground transport for business between such places as Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. “I have been told that, if we carried racehorses by air, planes with racehorses would never be out of the air. But the fact remains that, to date, only three racehorses have been carried by air between the Continent and Britain. However, New Zealand has often led the rest of the world, and she mav do so here” Sir Leonard pointed out that aircraft could not hope to compete in the carriage of many classes of goods against the railways, which, in some cases, charged only a fraction of a penny per ton mile.