LONGEST AIR SERVICE

Evening Star, Issue 20138, 1 April 1929, Page 8

LONGEST AIR SERVICE

LONDON TO KARACHI ROUTE SEVEN DAYS' JOURNEY (British Official Wireless.) tress Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. HUG BY, March 30. (Received April 1, at 10.45 a.m.) Tho longest air service in tho world —tho biggest step yet taken in British civil aviation—was inaugurated to-day with the opening of tho Britain to India weekly mail and passenger servee of British Airways. The journey from Croydon to Karachi will take seven days, compared with sixteen days required even with the fastest combination of boat and train on the ordinary route. The total length of the air line is 5,000 miles. From London to Bale (Switzerland) the mail is borne in a big three-engined Armsirong-Siddclcy-Argosy air liner. From Bale it is carried by night mail train to Genoa. At Genoa it goes on hoard an all-metal Calcutta air boat, which flies with it to Alexandria. Here it is 1 rnsferred to a 1,500 horse-power Do Haviland Hercules Empire type of aeroplane, which by stages hears it byway of Bagdad and Basra down the Persian Gulf to Karachi (India).

To organise this now airway special aeroplanes and Hying boats have been designed and built, harbours for marine aircraft and landing places for aeroplanes have been surveyed and established, and a, chain of wireless ami meteorological stations has been installed. The aircraft will he in wireless touch •with inter-communicating ground stations throughout the whole of tho jouruev hy means ot the latest Marconi appara t us. Tlio London to Karachi faro will he £L‘Ji), including hotels and meals. From London to .Bagdad it wdl ho £BO, and from London to Egypt £BB. Tho surcharge on six mail letters is only 6d.