BRITISH AIR ROUTES TO BE SPEEDED UP.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1935, Page 7

BRITISH AIR ROUTES TO BE SPEEDED UP.

EMPIRE SERVICES. Croydon to New Zealand by End of 1937. > TASMAN "STORM" CONTINUES. (United P.A.-Electric Telegraph-Copyright) (Received 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, July 31. An ambitious programme, extending British air lines to Europe, and also the establishment of services across the southern, northern and central Atlantic, is foreshadowed by the formation of an Air Ministry Council under the chairmanship of Sir Warren Fisher, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, and head of the Civil Service. The council also includes LieutenantColonel Slielnierdine, Director-General of Civil Aviation, and representatives ' of the Dominions, Colonial, India and Foreign Offices, the Board of Trade, the Post Office, the Admiralty and the . Treasury. The task will be to prosecute a more vigorous and more co-ordinated developi ment of all external air routes. British aviation circles fear that Sir J Charles Kingsford Smith's trans-Tasman proposal will prejudice the development , of an Empire scheme. '< The "Sun-Herald" understands that i Australia and New Zealand contemi plated that the tenders for the Tasman ' service should be open to any responsible group representing British enterprise. It is considered here that the i efficiency and speeding up of the Britishi Australian-New Zealand air link is i dependent on British control over all ' sections, with probably one flying boat stopping only to change crews and refuel. The linking of Croydon and New Zealand in eight days, by the end of 1937 as planned might be hampered if a rival service were operating on the Tasman.

HOME SERVICES. INTERNAL BRITISH PROGRESS. (British Official Wireless.) (Received 12.30 p.m.) RUGBY, July 31. A committee has been established, with Sir Henry Maybury, the wellknown traffic authority and member of the London Passenger Transport Board as chairman, to report to the Secretary for Air on civil aviation at home. It will take into account the requirements of the Post Office for air mails and the relation between aviation and other forms of transport. It is understood a survey by the Air Ministry of the lines on which home air services might develop, has been in progress for some time, and a report will be issued shortly which will help in the planned development of regular air services by the indication of routes, the study of the possibilities of night flying, and of the necessary provision of beacons and air port lighting systems.

SCENTIST KILLED. Tragic Aeroplane Crash Near Vancouver. THREE DEATHS RESULT. VANCOUVER, July 31. In a flying accident yesterday three people were killed. They were:—Dr. R. W. Brock, dean of the faculty of applied science, University of British Columbia, and chairman of the Vancouver Harbour Board, who made a geological survey of the island of Hongkong for the British Government; Dr. Brock's wife, and the pilot, Mr. William McCluskey. The aeroplane crashed at Alta Lake, 50 miles north of Vancouver. Mrs. Brock was alive when picked up, but died as she was being brought to Vancouver. Mr. David Sloan, fourth occupant of the machine, was injured. TASMAN AIR SERVICES. NEW ZEALAND VIEW AWAITED. SYDNEY, July 31. The Minister of Defence, Mr. R. A. Parkhill, states that the Federal Cabinet has considered the amended proposal for a Tasman air service submitted by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, but it is not disposed to take further action until the New Zealand Government, which is more concerned than Australia, has stated its a(iews.