ROYAL DUTCH AIR LINES

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20986, 14 October 1933, Page 12

ROYAL DUTCH AIR LINES

£ —. | A REMARKABLE SERVICE EFFICIENCY AND REGULARITY. (SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOB THE I'KESE.) [By A. L. W. SALT.] " Koninglijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij " (Royal Dutch Air Lines) is the long form of the familiar K.L.M., an air company known, not only for the regularity and efficiency of its weekly service between Europe (Amsterdam) and the Far East (Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies), but for its recent offer, hardly acceptable to Imperial sentiment, to organise and operate a further link—between Batavia and Port Darwin in Australia. For these reasons, so long as Indian Trans-Continental Airways only run to Calcutta—whatever may be the chance of an extension to Port Darwin by 1934 some knowledge of the ways and methods of this Dutch service may be of interest to the general public. The first experimental flight between Amsterdam and Batavia was made in October, 1924, in a Fokker F VII. with one Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, and was backed by the Dutch postal authorities. Close co-opera-tion with the post office has always been one of the striking and pleasant features of K.L.M. This first flight was so successful that the post office decided that an air service to the Far East was, at any rate, within the bounds of possibility, and slowly and deliberately laid its plans to this end. Three years later, therefore, two more flights were made—the first out in 13 days and back in 14—the second out in nine and back in 10—and in 1928 Koninglijke Nedeiiandskt Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij came into being. The postal people did not wait to see if the service was going to pay before they backed it, but—believing in it as a magnificent advertisement of the Dutch spirit of adventure—gave it their whole-hearted support, even in the early and difficult stage of development.

Efficiency of Aeroplanes. After some argument aeroplanes were chosen for the whole journey. The K.L.M. were of the opinion that no seaplane.that could resist a really heavy sea—of the typhoon variety—had ever been built, that the first cost and upkeep of a seaplane is always greater than that of a land machine .and that the shortest—and therefore the quickest—route would always be overland. So far, the K.L.M. three-engined Fokker XVIII.'s have travelled over 20,000 hours on the whole route and have never stopped outside an aerodrome with engine trouble. Actually, the shortest route between Amsterdam and Batavia—on the Great Circle —by way of Berlin, Astrakhan, the "Roof of the World," the Himalayas, Delhi, the Andaman Islands, and Medan (Java)—is only 7,100 miles long. But the mountains, the weather, the lack of intermediate traffic and international politics are vital obstacles that would make ground organisation well-nigh impossible on this line. Consequently, the route now followed is—in summer—Amsterdam, Leipzig, Budapest, Athens, Mersa Mubarek, Cairo, Gaza, Baghdad, Bushire, Jask, Karachi, Jodhpur, Allahabad, Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, Kolakh, Alor Star, Medan, Palembang, Batavia (8825 miles). Athens, Gaza, Bagdad, Karachi, Jodhpur, Allahabad, and Calcutta are also used by Imperial Airways (India) or Indian Trans-Continental Airways. In winter, from November to the end of April—the first part of the journey—to Athens—is taken by Marseilles and Rome.

Aeroplanes as Ships. On both journeys, the K.L.M. regards its aeroplanes as ships. The crews, therefore, except for casualties, remain unchanged on both the outward and return voyage. All machines carry a crew of four—two pilots, a steward-mechanic and a wireless operator, who also helps ' the mechanic on the ground. The training of a mechanic takes from five to six years, and mechanics are specially subject to the ailments of the East. This system has two advantages. As there are only six machines on the whole service, it saves money. Second, it develops a corporate sense of responsibility for the safety of passengers and mail. The chief pilot is the captain of the ship. As soon as he gets to Batavia, he radio's back a report of the outward voyage ; as soon as he returns to Amsterdam? he meets the K.L.M. officials in conference. Each crew makes four trips a year. The outward journey now takes from nine to 10 days. After a rest of a fortnight at Bandoeng, the crew goes back again to Europe, has a week's holiday, spends seven weeks on the easier European routes, and is off again. In all, there are 13 crews. This year K.L.M. will do the journey in eight days in the summer and nine in the winter and autumn. In 1934 it is hoped to reduce it to six and seven, and, later on, even to four and five. The present Fokkers —put on last year—have a cruising speed of 122 miles an hour. This speed reduces the effect of head winds and gives a bigger margin in case of emergency. As there is seven hours' difference in daylight between Amsterdam and Batavia, as the speed increases, the outward journey will eventually take a day longer than the return. The whole purpose of the K.L.M. service is the car-iage of mails and it is only the mail contract that makes it possible. The company agrees to carry mails up to a maximum of 500 kilograms weekly in both directions and the post office agrees to pay for this maximum, even if it is not carried. As a matter of fact, the post office loses on the deal. The actual amount carried right through is, on the average, only 285 kilograms, though an additional 60 kilograms is picked up en route. As it, K.L.M., carries about 25 per cent, of the first-class mail between "Holland and the Dutch East Indies, and, recently, the rate for letters of one-third of an ounce has been reduced and a new one-fifth of an ounce letter made possible. Those who use Imperial Airways for their Indian mail know how long we have clamoured for the latter concession. With the extra revenue from passengers and freights—apart from the

-mail contract, the K.L.M. manage without a subsidy. Weather Difficulties. \ The weather difficulties are fog i in Europe, dust storms in the Middle East, monsoon rains in the East. These troubles, however, seldom coincide and so K.L.M. aircraft travel a little faster on certain sectons to allow for a margin, if they cannot travel as quickly elsewhere. Outside Europe, there is no ground [ lighting, except at Bagdad and Karachi, and—generally speaking—the aerodromes are not large enough to fallow for sufficient take-off in hot weather or for extra space, if the ground is water-logged. The K.L.M. believes that daily stages for passengers should be as long as possible, but allows for two intermediate stops. As with Imperial Airways, the fare for passenger includes necessary hotel accommodation and all food. The route between Amsterdam and Batavia is not regarded as a link between the Netherlands and her East Indian Colonies, but as an express service between Europe and Asia. The fact that there is no connexion with Australia is not the fault of K.L.M. K.L.M. works in close conjunction with Imperial Airways and Air Orient, and there is, obviously, plenty of room for all three, if we remember that 300,000 passengers make the complete journey to Asia from Europe every year. It has been suggested that, by mutual arrangement, each company should double its service and thus provide a service every day of the week. The only objection to this—from the point of view of Imperial Airways—is that, if their machines started on Thursdays, they would most certainly be overhauled by K.L.M. or Air Orient, starting one or two days later. However, no company has reached its limit. In time, all aerodromes will be lighted ; there will be a large number of wireless stations working without break; the meteorological service will improve ; and, therefore, the number of flying hours a day will increase. | If, in addition, machines fly faster, the K.L.M. vision of a through service from Europe to Asia in four days may yet be realised. Once you have started rapid communication in the air—and are determined to perfect it—there is no limit to its possii bilities.