SPANNING THE PACIFIC

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 115, 1 June 1937, Page 9

SPANNING THE PACIFIC

-Press Aisoeistion )

Regular Air Services in Near Future AMERICA'S VIEW

Telegraph-

AUOKLAND, Last Night. No doubfc that New Zealand and Austrftlia will soon be linked with the United Slates and Canada is entertained by Mr W. T, Miller, superintendent of Airwavs of the United States Bureau of Commerce, who was a through passenger for San Erancisco by the Mftriposa after making an investigation into the pcssibilities of regular commereial and mail air services across the Pacific. As the result of his investigations ir New Zealand and Australia, he said he is convinced that it will not be long before the recent survey flight across the Pacific by the Pan-American Airways olippor is succeeded by " timet*bio" crossings. Suggestions have been made that New Zealand might possibly be left out of the route of the regular mail and passenger air service, but Mr Miller said he eonsidered New Zealand was the most iinportant link. Canada would also have to be incltided. To his mind, tho United States and Canada not only thought as one country but were also working as one country, and such an air service as he envisaged would be from "Australasia and North America. " "One of the main objeets of my visit," said Mr Miller, ' 'was to ascertain as far as possible how much business would be offermg for such a service across the- Pacific and I have come to the, conclusion that it is only going "to be a very short period of time before New Zealand, Australia and America are going to be linked up with a fast passenger and mail service by air. Whether it will be sponsored from America or the Aniipodes is not for me to say, but justification for such a service is there. My view is that the Governments of the countries concerned Will have to get together and come to some suitable arrangement. Every detail will have to be worked out before any service can be established. "It might easily be," he said, "that there would be suffieient encouragement for more than one company to run a service, but nothing positive had yet been arrived ,at and the wholo thing was a matter for the respective Governments. If it was decided to assist an air service, no doubt a reciprocal agreement would have to be drawn up. " Under the United States regulations mail was carried under contract, and for this reason he cotild not say whether Pan-American Airways would be responsible for the service. If it was organised tenders for a mail contract would have to be calied and the success- | ful tenderer would have the xight to [ the mail monopoly by air. It was to ; be remembered, however,- that Pani American Airways was the only largo j international opcrator in the United ! States. Its officers had ddne a very ! good job in bringing tha elipper ship ' down to. Auckland on its recent survey ■ fiight. i Once the service was started, he said, j the world would be encircled by air j routes, because a regular service across : the Atlantic could not be far off, and | once the . Pacific was spanned, or even ; before, regular passenger and mai! i fiights across the Tasman between New [ Zealand and Australia would have to I come. The flight across the Tasman I should be accomplished by aeroplanes ; lcaving one terminal ia. the morning | and arriving at the other in the after- : noon. High altitudes, possibly an average of 12,000 feet, would probably be necessary in order to avoid storms in certain areas. Mr Miller is to make a report on his visit to New Zealand and Australia to his department. In each country he took the opportunity of travelling by the principal air lines.