LONDON TO CAPETOWN

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 255, 23 September 1930, Page 2

LONDON TO CAPETOWN

3.30 P.M. EDITION

COMMERCIAL AIR ROUTE

(Lnited Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) Received September 23, 12 noon. RUGBY, Sept. 22. Iho regular air mail route between London and Capetown, which Imperial Airways, Ltd., will operate next vear, will halve the time taken at present between these two points. . The journey will at first take 11 days in each direction, but it is antieipateS that this will before long be reduced to nine.

The Union of South -Africa, which lias supported the scheme from the beg. lining, is making a substantial contribution to tile necessary subsidv and 's actively assisting the project in other wavs.

The governments of Sudan. Kenya. Luanda, Tanganyika and Northern and Southern Rhodesia are also cooperating. and tho Egyptian Goverament which is not contributing to the subsidy, is providing valuable facilities tor the service.

All the authorities concerned have throughout the negotiations appreciated the advantages, both local and general, of the enterprise, which will ■inmensely improve communications between widely-separated parts of the Empire.

The fi r st half of the route, to he in operat on in January, will extend from London to Tvisumn. on Lake Victoria, which is 2600 miles from Cairo and InO miles from Nairobi. The route chosen for the remaining 3000 miles to die Cape, after following the Nile will oa.ss through Uganda, Tanganvika and Rhodesia.

The short Calcutta type of flying boats will he used between Khartoum and Kisunui and will alight on the Nile and the lakes. The land machines used along tho route will be Armstrong-AA’hitworth Argosies and De Haviland Hercules types. All the machines will have three engines each. The route will serve much undeveloped trrit.ovv and has been designed to permit of the eventual provision of branch services at various points.