BRITISH CIVIL AVIATION

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20961, 15 September 1933, Page 10

BRITISH CIVIL AVIATION

♦ fourteen years of PROGRESS EXCELLENT WOKK OF IMPERIAL AIRWAYS LONDON, August 2. Another milestone is now reached in the history of aerial transport, lor it is just 14 years .-incr-, m August 1919, the first service of aeroplanes began flying daily between London ana Paris. The remarkable prosrc?s which our airways have made in those 14 years may be indicated, briefly, by the following tabulation:— From 100 or so passengers weekly to a total numbering thousands. From 250 miles of air routes to just on 14,000. From 360 horse-power aeroplanes, carrying two passengers, to air-liners of 2200 horse-power, accoinmoaauns 38 passengers and a crew of four. From a reliability in flying oi 60 per cent, to an all-the-year-round figure ct just on 100 per cent. . From a few thousand di. borne to annual ligures reckoned m m *From a handful of_ air-con-signed parcels to freight loads at busy periods, now amount iO ou or 60 tons weekly. Even before the end <>> the War the Eritish authorities realised the potentialities which lay oeiore post-war commercial aviation, and ti-e Civil Aerial Transport Committee was established to survey the whole fie:d of peace-time flying. Then, immediately after the Armistice, a commercial department was formed at the Air Ministry, i-nd in August, . 19 ±-'> British aeroplanes and pilots instituted the world's first daily air express between London and Paris. It cost 20 guineas then to fly between the two capitals in a small and noisy craft, whereas to-day the fare is only five guineas by the de-luxe service of flying Pullmans in which passengers lunch or dine while high aloft. j

Early Success. In the very first week of the pioneer London-Paris service one of the airmen flew through a gale which reached a force of 100 miles an hour; while after they had been in operation only three months the aeroplanes proved so dependable that the Post Office entrusted them with the carriage of mails. To-day, flying more than 2,000,000 miles a year, and carrying, annually, more than 60,000 passengers, our big British air-liners operate with a reliability of just on 100 per cent. Fourteen years ago it cost half-a-crown to send a letter by air from London to Paris. To-day the figure is fourpence; while for sixpence a letter travels for 5000 miles by air to India, or for a shilling over the 8000 miles from England to South Africa. It was after five years of pioneer operation that all the British air organisations then operating were merged in one national enterprise, Imperial Airways. Fifteen aircraft were all the company owned when it j began flying. To-day its aeroplanesi and flying-boats, comprising 40 powerful multi-engined machines, form a fleet of the largest and most luxurious) aircraft in the world. Empire Development. From the first it has been one of the chief tasks of Imperial Airways to concentrate upon the development of Empire air transport. Four years ago, in 1929, the first Empire air-line, ex-' tending for 5000 miles to India, was inaugurated. Then, in 1931, came the initial sections of the route to South Africa, follov/ed the next year by the completion of the through service of 8000 miles between London and Cape Town. To-day, stage by stage, the Indian air-mail is being continued to Australia, after which there will be further air links to New Zealand, and also probably to China; while a project to which close attention is being paid is for a British air-mail across the Atlantic, connecting with the airway system of Canada, and furnishmg new trunk routes over the Pacific to the other British Dominionr. Growth of Traffic. Since they began operations, nine years ago, the aircraft of Imperial Airways have flown a total of 10,798,000 miles, and have carried nearly 260,000 passengers; while during this period British airways have afforded the amplest proof of their speed, reliability, and comfort. Air loads continue their rapid growth, recent increases in passenger traffic having, in certain cases, been from as much as 60 to 100 per cent. Air freight, also, inn lately by 30 per cent, and letter mail by more than 20 per cent.; while on the Empire routes, rece j months, there has been an all-round traffic growth of apy 50 - per cent - White traffic ~ .increasing, operating costs are decreasing, and British figures for earned income in relation to subsidy same t C imp IS R e r ""P.rovement. At the ibT J ime . B . lltls » 1 rates are among the lowest m the world, while our au \ c raft carry larger average loadt and fly a bigger average mileage per ,ha " those r> > in fact, it may be said that British commercial flying is approachmtimore^ Mr '^ ,han ,hat 01 W other fh ac. ua !g; P iwe W i de ,hT' 1 ' tbey independence, and are able t o™fS"bv