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Aviation History
1991
1991 - 0199.PDF
Seasonality demands high capacity for short periods, but a scarcity of navigation aids and night landing equipment, along with tourism travel patterns, are a recipe for low utilisation that restrains investment in expensive equipment. EXPERIENCE NEEDED Several airlines, including Air Niugini, Air Pacific and Fiji Air, have well-developed programmes for training national pilots, but crews are still largely Australians, New Zealanders or, in the case of Air Tahiti and Air Caledonie, French-speaking pilots. Operators report difficulty in finding crew with the "bush experience" needed for off-airways operations, often to marginal strips with few or no navagation aids. One chief pilot reports that the Australian pilots' dispute dramatically increased supply, with out doing much for the availability of pilots with the preferred experience. Safety regulation arrangements are nor mally contracted out to larger states. The French authorities control Tahiti and Noumea. New Zealand regulates Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and Rarotonga. Fiji looks after its own regulation as well as that of the Solomons. Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu have their own civil aviation au thorities under the Australian system. Political interference has distorted some airlines' operating environments in the past. In Papua New Guinea it has taken the form of obstructive air-fare controls and dubious, aircraft purchase decisions, but policy is now under review. In contrast Solomon Islands' Geoff Olsen (who previously worked for Air Niugini), says the Solomons government is "very supportive". The Solo mons are also free of law-and-order prob lems he says, and a tourism development plan being drawn up should strengthen the market over the next five years. One of the most frequent problems of island-based airlines is low aircraft utilisa tion. Air Caledonie's ATRs averaged only l,580h each last year, Air Tahiti's two Air Nuigini's Airbus A310 (far left) and Air Pacific's Boeing 747 Obottom left) represent rare heavy metal in a region -where the ATR42/72 (top left) is a popular type ATR42s each fly about 2,000h and its Dornier 228 l,200h. "There's a narrow commercial 'window' in that we're limited to daylight-only opera tion," says Ewan Smith, managing director of Air Rarotonga, "and there's the problem of lack of development-oriented finance. Although we're an essential service, interna tional funding agencies are geared only for public-sector financing." VIGOROUS PROMOTION In spite of these difficulties Air Rarotonga and most other small operators present themselves vigorously and professionally and promote their regions effectively. Operators say American visitors, unex- cited by their own third-level services, are impressed to find professional and cus tomer-oriented operators "way out there". In French Polynesia, Air Tahiti operates four ATR42s as well as a recently delivered Dornier 228, and has an additional two ATR72s arriving in 1992/1993. The carrier is ground-service agent for Air France and handled 1,400 turnarounds for ten interna tional carriers in 1989. Air Tahiti wholly owns Air Moorea which, with its fleet of 11 Twin Otters, Islanders and Pipers, last year ferried 160,000 passengers, 50% of them tourists, between Tahiti and its "suburb", Moorea. A Dornier 228 has now been added to Air Moorea's fleet. Air Tahiti, principally locally owned, has its heart in promoting local tourism, which has been on the up-swing since 1985. An intensive development programme took the total of airfields to 35. The airline has also diversified into hotels. Funded by a solid mix of local investors, banks, corporate staff, regional government and French car rier UTA, Air Tahiti is looking towards solid growth and more than doubling its fleet. In Noumea, Air Caledonie is not Govern ment owned, but the Territory of New Caledonia is the principal shareholder and the carrier is subsidised by the French Government. Air Caledonie will add an- FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 23 - 29 January, 1991 3!
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