SOUTH AFRICAN COY. FIGHTING STATE AIR MONOPOLY IN BRITAIN

Grey River Argus, 18 September 1948, Page 5

SOUTH AFRICAN COY. FIGHTING STATE AIR MONOPOLY IN BRITAIN

LONDON, Sept. 16 The Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced that passenger and cargo aircraft which are engaged in unauthorised fights to Britain may ■ be detained. This is now possible under the terms of an amended regulation. A South African company, Mercury Airways, recently flew several aircraft to and from Britain in spite of a provision in the Civil Aviation Act giving a monopoly on the South African route to British State-owned airlines. The chairman of Mercury Airways (Mr Gordon Fillery) said the company would beat the ban on unathprised flights to Britain. It intended to form a company called Mercury Anways Great Britain, Ltd., to pinchase and charter aeroplanes with nritisn registration, which would connect with the company’s aeroplanes from South Africa at Pans. To get lound the Civil Aviation Act, the company has been officially terminating Its flights from South Africa at Pans and flying passengers free across the Channel to England. Under the new plan flights across the Channel would qtill be free “We may even register certain blocks of seats with British European Airways and make them take our passengers to Pans. British European Airways cannot, refuse, because they are public carriers.