LINK WITH BRITAIN.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 13 November 1926, Page 10

LINK WITH BRITAIN.

TO AUSTRALIA BY r AIR. DEMAND FOR PASSAGES. CAIRO, Oct. 29. Tin* first link in the England-Aus-tralia air service will be officially opened on January 1. 1927, when the CairoKaraehi service will be put into operation. The service, which will be operated bv Imperial Airways, Ltd., will be a fortnightly one, and should it be successful the route will be extended to Calcutta, Rangoon and Singapore, and eventualy to Darwin. The schedule of fares and timetable has now been issued and is as follows:

These fares include hotel accommodation and meals. The length of the section is 2500 miles, and the tl.ving time is expected to be 21 hours. The machines, which have been specially designed for the service, carry 12 passengers, plus baggage and mails, together with a crew of pilot, mechanicpilot, and wireless operator. Five machines .are required to maintain the service, and the ground organisation is now complete. The maximum distance between landing grounds is 120 miles.

Inquiries as early as the end of September were being received (states the Daily Telegraph) by Imperial Airways in London from .British residents in Iraq, who intend to spend their holidays in Egypt, for seats in the new air liners which will begin running on the Egypt-Iraq-India air route in January next. At present residents in Bagdad wishing to spend their holiday in Egypt have either to make a long journey by motor transport over the desert to Beyrouth, and thence by railway to Cairo, or to travel by Tail to Basra, and thence by steamer down the Persian Gulf to Bombay, and back to Egypt, via Port Said. The new Imperial Airways Empire air service will save from eight to fifteen days on the journey from Bagdad to Egypt over either of these routes for the single journey.

Oairo-Karaclii .. . . £72 Air. 4 Days Sea 11 Land 21 Cniro-Bagdad ... . . £+1 2 18 4 Oairo-Basra .... . . £51 o 10 6 Bagdad-Karachi . . £37 4 11 — Basra-Karachi .. .. £30 2 5 —