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46

New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii are at the double of this distance towards the nor-West,

to the west and the south-west respectively.

Easter Island is the last island to the east of the Polynesia and, simultaneously, the last

island to the west of South America.

At the moment [1982 ], by boat, this transpacific island is not in the route of any regular

navigation line. Since it does not have a port, neither load, nor people, it is not interesting to

the lines that go and come from the Far East to South America, nor from Australia to North

and Central America.

Only occasionally some high seas yachts and some tourism boats visit it for adventure.

Perhaps once a year. From Continental Chile, once or twice a year, comes a boat with that

precise destiny.

At the moment [1982], by airplane, this island only receives two LAN airplanes a week, for

passengers and smaller load, in transit towards Tahiti from Santiago. When returning, only

one goes to the island every week.

These airplanes have no suitable combination with neither Chilean nor foreign airlines,

neither in Santiago, nor in Tahiti.

To program, from the point of view of the transport, a trip to Easter Island from any country

of the world and, even from Chile, is quite complicated, long and onerous. This discourages

possible visitors and frustrates the immense world-wide interest that this island causes not

only in the selective and intellectual levels.

Although it is possible that some national transport airline loses the small part  of nothing

in exchange for a great part of a great everything, it is necessary to think about giving to this

Transpacific Island its function as way of transport between Asia, the Australian Continent

and North America and South America.

Harbor facilities and a suitable zone of free trade and tax exemptions, could place this island

in an advantageous position in the cross of marine transport that forms between Asia and

South America, with the Australian Continent and the Central and North America.

The same situation occurs with the aerial transport.

It would be worth the effort to open the Transpacific Island and to study the possibility of

granting facilities to foreign airlines from Panama, Mexico, California, Venezuela and Peru

towards the east, and to airlines from Japan, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand towards

the West.

In the rich Australian and New Zealander market there surely is demand for trips to Europe,

or vice versa, by Easter Island and South America or Easter Island and Panama.

In the abundant Japanese market there can be interest for trips to South America, Brazil

and Argentina, and to South-Africa through the same way.

In the multiple North American, Mexican and Venezuelan market there can be demand for

trips to the Islands of the South Pacific and to Australia in transit by Easter Island.

The present Mataveri airport [1982] has reached the basic conditions to allow international