LETTERS BY AIR

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 150, 27 June 1935, Page 8

LETTERS BY AIR

BETWEEN AUSTRALIAN CITIES

ORDINARY POSTAGE RATES j > . j ; | ' ! ' ; ; \ ; \ , I . . . r . [ ; . [ ■ i . . ' ' • : ; i ■ ; • • ' ■ 1 1 ' • • 1 1 1 • ; ; - ' ; , 'i ' . i . . : i i : , i : i : . ■ : : ■

(From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, June 20. The Empire air mail having proved an unbounded success, with the weekly total of letters far exceeding expectations, the Commonwealth is becoming ambitious about the carriage of, its domestic letters. Plans for the carriage by air between the six State capitals ;of all first-class mail matter at the ordinary rate of 2d an ounce have been prepared by the Postmaster-General's Department. The plans are now being considered by the Federal Ministry- It is proposed that there shall be at least daily services in each direction between Brisbane and Sydney, Sydney . and Melbourne, Melbourne and Adelaide, and Melbourne and Hobart, with services in each direction twa or three times weekly between Adelaide and Perth. It is expected that if the proposals of the Department are adopted by the Ministry, the new services will [be in operation within a year. They will be let by tender to private operators, the provision of modern highspeed aeroplanes being an important condition. The Postmaster-General (Senator MeLachlan) said that for some time his Department had been examining Jhe possibilities of speeding up the long-distance heavy mail traffic in Australia. The plan that has been evolved provided for the establishment of highspeed aerial services, operating on a time-table, to obtain a linking of the sections in a manner, that would give the most effectual postal service. Some conception of the benefits to be derived from the establishments such a plan might be gained from the fact that letters posted late in the afternoon in Brisbane could be delivered in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide oh the following morning, and in Hqbart by midday. The journey from Brisbane to Perth might be completed.in two days, compared with the seven days now occupied by the normal route, or five days when the existing Adelaide-Perth air-mail service is used. COUNTRY TO SHARE THE I ; • .BENEFIT. : iThe financial aspect was a vital consideration, Senator McLachlan continued. Particularly was this so when it was contemplated that all first-class < inter-State mail matter converging on ■or diverging from the capital, cities would be conveyed by the proposed air-mail service, and no additional postal charges would be made. Sur- ■ charges of 3d a half-hour now imposed on correspondence Carried by air mail within Australia will be :made no longer. If the plan was adopted by the Ministry the great benefits that would be enjoyed by users of the post would not be restricted to persons in the capital cities. Country people woulk share to the full the great advantages following upon so revolutionary a change. . The, organisation would have to be established as an ex--1 tension of the arrangements controlled at present by the Civil Aviation ■ Department. To meet the requirements of the service the organisation would have to include aerodromes, emergency landing grounds, fuelling depots,,lights, and wireless beacons, meteorological services, and an inter-communicative system for the purpose of'maintaining contact with all aeroplanes in the air and with each portion of the ground organisation. ■■■ REDUCING THE TIME FACTOR. Senator McLachlan said . that although the communications of Australia had been raised to a high standard of efficiency, the great, distances to be traversed proved a hindrance to national economical develops , ment. Any feasible steps that could be taken to reduce the factor of time, particularly when dealing with commercial transactions, must react with great benefit to the progress of the country. The speeding-up of communications would bring the States into closer relationship. Endeavours were being made to extend the present air services throughout the Empire to provide complete inter-communication by air. There could be little doubt that improvements would be made in the Imperial air services which would have a far-reaching influence on the Empire. ! "If the Commonwealth can find ways and means of introducing the proposed internal air-mail service which the Post Office is seeking to establish," Senator McLachlan said, "an\ adjunct most valuable to the extension of communications within the Empire,will be created, enormously increasing the value to Australia of an improved service between England, Australia,.and New Zealand. Australia cannot afford to disregard the progress made in the sphere of aviation."