AIRMAILS OF THE WORLD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 5 October 1936, Page 3

AIRMAILS OF THE WORLD

MAPS WHICH TELL A THRILLING STORY THE EVER-GROWING NETWORK To examine maps and figures which have just been produced, and which show the latest air-mail progress throughout the world, is to gain, a ■striking impression of one ot the most remarkable developments that these post-war bays can show. _ When you giiiiVee at an air-map of Europe, there is. one great route—it stretches across Russia from Moscow to Omsk and on to Irkutsk —which catches the eye immediately. Far up into Northern Europe, too, air-lines can be seen thrusting their way. Then, when you shift your gaze across the Atlantic, your attention is caught bv. the aerial network of Canada and the' United States, and by those romantic air-mails which carry their loads right up into Alaska and the desolate lands of the Ear North, reducing to hours journeys which used to take weeks and. even months by dog-sledge or canoe. Into South America, too. the flying' postmen wing their way, and even across the South Atlantic to Africa, thus forging an ocean link with the intricate air network of Europe. ■ It is fascinating to trace our far-flung Empire air-rnails, stretching east to Egypt, south over Africa, and on eastward For thousands of mileg to India, Malaya.: Hong Kong, and Australia. Nor is that all. For preparations are busily in hand for regular . commercial ail-jinks which will span both North .Atlantic .arid- Pacific. ~'Npije save those who study air-mail progress. constantly can realise how\ exjteiisive is the “system which now links Loudon with the cities of Europe, and wßli, destinations. still farther afield. From morning till night the big mailplanes wing their way above the Channel. As early as 5.1 ba. id. a dispatch from London enables letters to reach Aihsterdam at noon, and Budapest, Vienna, ot Milan the same evening. At 6,45 another outgoing service reaches Cannes, Geneva, or Madrid on the evening of the same day. Yet another of t)iese • early morning dispatches ensures an evening delivery in cities such as Berlin,, and Munich. Tljen after .this a service Is .timed to effect delivery in Paris during the afternoon, or in Basle or -Zurielv in the evening. And so it goes 6n throughout the day, till one collies to those evening and night dispatches which provide deliveny next morning over such a wide area of the Continent.- ■ . .. . .'ft. is interesting to follow the time schedules of the Empire air-mails. In two and a half days letters from London are in Cairo: In three days they reach Baghdad. In five days they are in -’Karachi. In six days they arrive in Calcutta, •• On. the seventh day from London they are in Rangoon,, and m another day they have reached Singapore. Hong Kong is now within ten days of London by air-mail. And hi twelve days the flying mail spans the Umpire to Australia. One realises what all, this means to British business houses with interests' overseas, or to merchants throughout the Empire who are in regular touch with London, when one plots out some ol the actual time-savings of air dispatch along the routes to Africa, India, and Australia. By using the India service, from two to three days can be saved, as compared with Surface transport, in the dispatch of letters to Egypt. To destinations in the Pel’sian Gulf the saving is from five to nine’days.- The air-mail to Calcutta saves ten days; to Singapore fourteen days ;to Australia twenty days. On the African route the time-savings to Kenya and Uganda vary from ten to twenty-one days. • To Nigeria you can save from seven to eleven days, to Northern and Southern Rhodesia from thirteen to sixteen days, and to destinations- in South Africa from eight to ten days.

BOOM IN HOLIDAY AIR TRAVEL Mine of the biggest booms ever known is now. in progress in holiday, travel. This applies not only to the British Isles, but also to journeys between England and the Continent;, while one of the features of the boom is the growing use by tourists of air transport. "Never have .holiday bookings bec-n so heavy a 4 at'.the present time," said an official of Imperial Airways. "Augmented services are filled to capacity and advance bookings are - exceptionally heavy. Specially noticeable is the number of tourists making air trips to and from Switzerland. increasingly popular, too are journevs in which people carry out a complete flying itinerary, changing from one route to another, and —owing to the speed of air travel—being able to visit a large number ,of cities • and beautyspots during the course of even a brief holiday." NEW IMPERIAL AIRWAYS STATION AT VICTORIA

'At a receiit meeting of the Westmin-’ sicr City Council therb was a report froiti ■ the Law and Parliamentary ComTTiitCcß as .to a letter received< § from the Southern. Railway. This stated that the Southern Eailwhy wish to grant to imperial 'Airways; a building lease of la no frortting and oh, The c-ast side of Buckingham Palace Rbad soucli of Elizabeth Bridge, for the erection of offices and a station to facilitate' the transport of ,aii piissengers to and from aerodromes out side London. The railway company also propose to grant Imperial Airways an option'on a building lease oh a further area fronting on to‘ Buckingham* Palace Road between the land already specified aiicl the' premises of the Art Metal Construction Co. The Works Committee, having examined the plans, reported that they had no objection to the substitution of the proposed building for the..existing wall, The Law and Parliamentary . 1. bminittf e a Iso agreed, makliig a recommendation accordingly, which the Council adopted. -Each passenger flying by Imperial Airways bn European routes is allowed 321 bs of fpee luggage. This often raises a question as to how much, alter reckoning. tile weight of a typical suitcase, can ‘actually be,packed in such a ease without the stipulated weight exceeding the Stipulated 331bs.' The average weight for a suitcase is about* ribs. This, means that each passenger making a Continental air trip has approximately 261bs at his or her disposal for the actual contents pf a suitcase. Here, women passengers, ’ will; .the lightness of their clothing, are at an - ’obvious advantage. Tests show that in addition to toilet requisites a lid ■, several sets of lingerie, with appropriate shoes anti stockings, a woman traveller should,_ in the 261bs at Kel* disposal. be able to include a couple of. day and evening frocks, and such itains'as a t'ojit" and skirt and.a mackintosh. As,' for. men. passengers, expennjerits Show-' that they can find room for toilet i'e‘qtn3iier. shirts, collars, ties, shoes/ handkerchiefs,' pyjamas, a dressing gown, and a change of underwear, together with a plus-four suit, evening clothes, and mackintosh. A point to he borne in mind by those wishing to take nidi'e thiui a suitHw with, them—as they often do—is that tile baggage aceommoclitfoii iif liioderii air-liners is considerable. and that surplus luggage can nut c „lf be handled without chtficmtv. hut t.ivii t-'ffd Vat-'fi.are on the lowest possible scale. On the Paris route, for.r.x

ample, the extra baggage rate is 6d per kilo (2.21b5). On the Empire services of imperial Airways the weight of eacli passenger, together with his or her free luggage allowance, is reckoned at ICO kilos, or approximately 2201bs This means that, when the average weight of a passenger is allowed for, there is usually from 50 to 801 bs for fiec ’personal luggage. BILLS OF LADING BY AIR-MAIL Shippers who (send out hills of lading and other documents by air can expedite considerably by doing so the clearance at/ ports overseas of sea-borne cargoes which have to. continue journeys by goods train after trans-shipment from the sea routes. One example of this occurs in connection with the accelerated services to .South Africa which are about to be introduced with the liners ‘‘Athlono Castle" and "Stirling Castle." Documents concerning cargoes bv these steamers which are earmarked for trans-shipment at Port Elizabeth and East London will, if sent by ordinary mail, be too late to enable clearances to be effected for dispatch by fast goods train. Any such delay can, however, be obviated if the documents are sent out by air-mail.

PEN-PICTURE OF A ROMANTIC FLIGHT One of the most picturesque of the world’s flying routes is that section of the Australian service which follows the Arabian shores of the Persian Gulf. Until towaids the end of 1932 the airliners of Imperial Airways flew along the Persian side of the Gulf. Then, however, the service was transferred to the Arabian coast, flying via Koweit, Bahrein, and Sharjah. And already the Arabs have learned to take the coming and going of air-liners just as much for granted as they do the arrival and departure of mail steamers; while divers out on the pearl-banks, just glance up idly as . one of the big aircrait moves swiftly above. Koweit, a typical Arab town. lies on the edge of a shallow bay, surrounded on three sides by desert. It is governed by a Sheikh in traditional. Arao fashion. He administers justice himself, dealing personally with all matters that arise. Several times the Sheikh of Koweit has been a passenger in air-liners up and down the Gulf. A journey from Koweit to Bahrein can be made m three hours by air. It take's a couple of (lays by jsteamer. On the largest of the Bahrein Islands is Manama, the bazaars of which provide a picturesque spectacle. During the pearl season they are thronged with Arabs, Persians, Indians, and Iraquis, who are either buying pearls or spending the money they have earned on the diving banks. Air-liner passengers alighting at Bahrein are soon made aware that pearl-fishing is the chief industry, seeing that the pearlsellers come hurrying to otter then* wares; while in the saloons of aircraft flying up and down the Gulf pearl merchants are often seen sitting together, examining their respective collections with critical eyes. A few hours by air from Bahrein. ( oil what in old days was known as "the Pirate Coast,” lies Sharjah. Nowadays, however, these shores have lost the evil reputation they once possessed. Treaties abolishing piracy or slave-running have been signed by the various sheikns. It is at Sharjah that Imperial Airways maintain a fully-equipped iest-house, in which—though it lies on such a remote coast dine, passengers enjoy all the amenities of a first-class hotel. Tins rest-house is guarded by retainers of the local sheikh, who does everything m his power to assist the air officials, and who sometimes invites distinguished air passengers to visit him «it 1 1 i* neighbouring fort. Here tncy arc served with Arab sweets and coffee, and honoured by a salute of guns from some ancient cannon. Sometimes, too, for the further entertainment of such visitors, there is a thrilling exhibition of Arab horsemanship.