NEARING AUSTRALIA

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 131, 30 November 1933, Page 11

NEARING AUSTRALIA

AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE

EXTENSION TO SINGAPORE

(From "The PoitV' ReprtMntatlve.)

LONDON,October 37. i

The announcement by Imperial • Aiw ways that the India: and Eastern service will be extended to-'Singapore early in December means.that yet an* other' important stage ia the development of the great Empire air trunk linei from England to Australia will be taken, w.ell within the scheduled time. Mails and passengers leaving London by air on Saturday, December 9^ will, icacK Singapore ten days later;.the.first west-i bound service will leave Singapore on December 31 and arrive in* London oa January 9. Thus will' be fulfilled the company's plan's to extend the-air service to Singapore by'the' end of-1933; the Christmas mails from;ho^ie.to all points along the airway north and west of "the Straits Settlements can' for.the first time travel this year by aei'oplanes. ! The present eastern terminus .of the service is Bangoo'n, to' wnich the lino was extended'towards the end of September. Nine days of .travel link Bangoon by air with London, showing att enormous saving of time over the fast< est ships in service. Singapore will 'be reached in ten days.' ....'.

Many difficulties still besefrthe operation of the British main air lines, es< pecially. in. the' west ..and, the Middle East. The refusal of free, passage to British transport aeroplanes over Italy; is a main factor in obliging Imperial Airways to send; the mails and passengers across Switzerland^ and Italy by, train to BrindisL Years of patient effort failed to secure a satisfactory; agreement with the Persian Government, and Imperial Airways abandoned the route along the Persian coast and now ply regularly over a,considerably; longer route on the other side of .the Persian Gulf,, along the coast of Arabia.; • Direct control of the..main EnglandAustralia route by Imperial Airways will end at Singapore. -Thence onward to Australia j the service is to be entrusted to a company selected, as tie result of competitive tender, by tho Australian Government. Much of the 2500 miles between Singapore and Port Darwin is already operated regularly by Netherlands aeroplanes; the ' jnost difficult section, 500 miles, of open sea from the island of Timor to the Australian mainland, provides" the real problem, and explains the insistence by, the Australian Government; on ppera-i tion by multi-engined aircraft from Singapore onwards and a range of at least 600 miles against a steady head wind of thirty miles an hour. Ag far as possible risk must bo eliminated from this long sea crossing; on that depends to a large extent the success of the airway. ' .' ,' '.. ' :

The painting of a portrait of Profeuoi' T. H. Eaeterfield by Mr.ArB1. NicoH, of Christchurch, for Victoria.Univetgity College, Wellington, has been completed,. r*> ports "The Post's" Nelson correspondent. It is the intention to unveil at Victoria College portraits of'the four foundation professors, of whom Professor Easterfield now Director of the Cawthron. Institute, is one. The others are Professor J. Rah-kine-Brown, Professor H. Mackenaie, and the late Professor R. C. Mackurin.- The portraits of all except the: latter hava been painted by Mr. Nicoll, Professor Mac laurin's ' being supplied'by' the Maasa« chuetts Institute -of 'Technology, Boston.