ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 125, 30 May 1930, Page 8

ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

AIE SEEVICE COMING

WITHIN THREE YEARS

Within the nest three years, .there will be passenger airships crossing between London and New York in 4S hours on a service operating " every other day—if the' present plans of airship designers can be completed. The a..ships to bo used will probably be twice the siz* of the RIOO and RlOl, with a speed of 90-95 miles per hour and accommodation for over 100 passengers, with luggage and mails. That such a service is well within the range of commercial probability is maintained , by Commander Sir Dennistoun Burney, the designer of the RIOO, in an article in the current issue of the "Empire Review." According to' Commander Burney, the first step must bo the evolution of an ■ airship which can alight on tho water of its own accord and, if noccssary, anchor like an ordinary marine vessel. He has already designed such/an airship, and preliminary tests show it to be sound in principle. . To begin ■with, probably only a bi-weekly service will be contemplated, for which the capital expenditure required would be about £6,500,000. This would im-lude tho construction of the ships, their bases and fueling stations in the Azores ano Bermuda. A fare of £200 a passenger is suggested. If, as is estimated, 20,000 passengers were transported annually, this would bring in a revenue of £3,800,f100, after deducting 5 per cent, for agents' fees. Mails, it is.anticipated, would bring the total revenue up to £6,300,000. If tho annual cost of running tho service, including depreciations, amounted to £3 ; 000,000, this would ■ still leave a return of £3,300,000 on a cash capital of £6,500,000. '

"My purposo in making these rough estimates," writes Commander Burney, "is to show that there are good reasons_ for thinking that an Atlantic air service can be mado a business proposition provided that it is conducted with the energy^ and effieency such a novel enterprise demands. One thing is certain. If an airship service cannot be mado to pay on the Atlantic route, it cannot be mado to, pay on any longdistance route in the world. For on no other route is there so vast a traffic, so great a mail, or so ritfh a travelling public. I think, therefore, that, so far as airship development is concerned, wo should devote all our during the next few years towards tho establishment of an. Atlantic service. 3i