From the Archives, 1946: Crowds mass to see first flight to Canada

First published in The Age on September 16, 1946

BY AIR TO CANADA

First Flight Started

The Skymaster WaranaCredit:Jack Lawson

Civil aviation in Australia was carried another step forward yesterday, when the A.N.A. Skymaster Warana took off from Laverton at 4 p.m. on the first flight of the Australia-Canada service.

Calling at Sydney, Fiji, Canton Island, Honolulu and San Francisco, the plane is scheduled to arrive at Vancouver at 5 p.m. on Tuesday Australian time. The trans-Pacific service will at first be fortnightly, but the frequency is expected to be increased at an early date.

Crowds gather to watch the first passengers on the Australia-Canada service.Credit:The Age Archives

The Skymaster carried 30 passengers, including brides of American and Canadian ex-servicemen. It also took the largest consignment of air mail ever to be carried from Australia to Canada.

Passengers destined for the United States, instead of disembarking at San Francisco, will have to travel on to Vancouver and return to San Francisco by a local air service.

This is because the Australian and American Governments have not yet reached an agreement on reciprocal landing rights. A.N.A. will not be permitted to pick up or disembark passengers at either Honolulu or San Francisco.

One of the passengers is the Deputy Director of Civil Aviation (Capt. E. C. Johnston), who has been sent to America to negotiate on a reciprocal landing rights agreement between both countries.

Cut in Mail Rates

Speaking before the departure of the plane, the Postmaster-General (Senator Cameron) announced that Pacific air mail rates would soon be reduced from 4/ to 2/6 a half ounce, and it was hoped to still further reduce this rate.

The Minister for Civil Aviation (Mr A. S. Drakeford) drew attention to the great debt owing to the intrepid airmen of the past who had made such flights possible.

The managing director of A.N.A. (Mr Holyman) said that in air transport Australia had a place second to no other country. With the formation of the British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines and the selection of A.N.A. to operate the Pacific service, it would be demonstrated that Australian air transport needed no spoon feeding or subsidising to hold its own with other countries. The service would strengthen already existing ties between the countries concerned.

Good will addresses were also given by the High Commissioners of Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

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