NEW AIR SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 26, 31 January 1929, Page 7

NEW AIR SERVICE

AMSTERDAM.TO BATAVIA

Twelve days by air.from Amsterdam to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies is the record of the first mail-carrying aeroplano destined for the civil- air service in that possession of the Netherlands. This carrier, immediately on arrival, • we ... are • told, ; distributed - about 600 pounas of mail, including " letters from London.'. The feat awakens - the imagination of some journalists. to the possibilities of establishing an air chain between London and Australia by way of the Netherlands East Indian Archipelago. The size of the Archipelago, writes the Batavia correspondent of the "London Times," can- best be understood by superimposing it on the map of Europe, where :it is seen that Sumatra would stretch from Ireland to' the Mediterranean, that, Java is considerably longer than England—with a population nearly equal to England—and that the extreme length of, the. Archipelago is equal ,to the distance from Ireland to the eastern part of the Black Sea. The informant goes ■ on: * ' •

"In the Netherlands East Indies, many business men travel regularly between, the ports, of Batavia and Surabaya—the most important two towns in the Archipelago. This journey can be made by rail or steamer, and as trains in Java do not run at night, the journey by either, route occupies approximately forty hours. By aeroplane the,distance can' be.covered in four-and a half hours, so that-it is possible for a business man to fly from one centre to the. other, arriving in time for lunch, complete his "business, and reach his office again the next day. "With regard to the influence of "aviation on the development of wide and remote districts, Western Australian Airways, Ltd., have demonstrated that tho running of regular air services between Perth and the Northern Territory has induced a large number of men with their wives and families to settle in the Northern Territory. These factors are of immense importance to the Netherlands East Indian Archipelago. ... "A glance at,a map will show that geographically Sumatra, Java, and the Lesser Soenda Islands form an essential link in the Europe-Australia air route. Sir Eric Geddes is credited with the. belief that . London to Australia can be accomplished' commercially, and Western Australian Airways, Ltd., have for some time been considering the possibility, of a Port Darwin-Sura-baya service. With these and other links already in existence, it does-not seem necessary to peer far into the future to see the London-Australia air service an accomplished fact."