EMPIRE AIR ROUTES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 52, 17 March 1937, Page 6

EMPIRE AIR ROUTES

(British Omcial Wirel««i.)

Scheme Should Be Working By 1938 RECENT EXTENSIONS 0

• ■ RUGBY, Mar«h 15. Jteviewing in the House of Commona developments in British external civil air communications, the Under-Secre-tary ior Air, Sir Philip Sassoon, said ,that the present scheme should fc% ifi working order at the beginning of 193"8, after. which all first-class mail from the United Kingdom Lto Empire countries on the Empire air routes would be carried t»y air for a flat rate of ljd per half-ounce, that being the current pre* ferential Empire postage rate. Meanwhile, it was h'oped that a stari would be made on the Durban route in the early summer of this year and on the Singapore route at the end of the year. The complete scheme, he said, aimed at providing flying-boat services on routes to South Africa, India, and Australia, with certain additional lanilplane services to India, all operat'ed by the new Empire aircraft. • Arrangements were being made for fewer services in connection with all routes. Concerning the proposed North Atlantic servicej the formidable task of providing the' necessary ground organisaton and equipment was being actively pursued, and bases for both land and marino aircraft were in hand by the Governments concerned. As regards aircraft, three main lines of transAtlantic development were in hand. Eour-engined high-speed land machinge were on point of completion, and with them it was hoped to operate an experimgntal serviee before the end of this year. A fleet of specially depigned flying-boats should be available in the course of • 1938. The ' possibilify of catapulting long-range fiying-boats was being actively investigated. Meanwhile lohg-range" training flights had begun with two flying-boats of the Empire itype. . Among new British external services ,introduced in 1936 were a weekly mail serviee between Khartoum ajid Kano and Lagos, and a temporary serviee bejtween Penang and Hong Kong pending completion of arrangements for a permanent connection from Hong Kong to the Empire trunk routes. It was expaeted that the Bermuda-New YorK serviee would commence operations during the present year.