CIVILIAN FLYING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17269, 19 September 1919, Page 8

CIVILIAN FLYING.

PROGRESS IN ENGLAND.

MODERATE FARES CHARGED.

" JOY-RIDING" POPULAR. [Br TELEGRAPH. owa- COBBESPONDb/t. ] CHKISTCHURCH, Thursday.

Civilian flying has made great progress in England this year," remarked Captain L. M. Isitt, R.A.F., who has just returned from the war, to a reporter to-day. " Quite a large number of officers of the Royal Air Force have been absorbed into the civilian flying service, and there seems a prospect that passenger flights will soon be carried out on a large scale all over the British Isles. " General Sykes is in charge of all the civilian flying at Home, and he is de«rL°? ing xt on sound b n»iness lines, While I recognise the possibilities for aerial passenger services in England I do not think it would be a payable proposition Jo institute passenger services in New Zealand for a few years yet " Captain Isitt adderl th«t nerial travel was proving very popular in England ar the fares could not be regarded as excessive. From London to Hastings, a distance of about sixty miles, a single ticket costs only four guineas and a return ticket seven guineas. From London to Bournemouth, a distance of about eiehtv miles, a single ticket cost five guineas and a return ticket ten guineas. A return trip from London to Oxford, following the Thames, cost onlv £10 and \ re i tu !£ tr . l , p from Jkondon to Southsea about 50 miles, cost £6 6s. ' "Joy rides" in Avro machines were, however, the most popular. For a circuit of the aerodrome 10s 6d was charged and for ten minutes in the air a charge was made of £1 2s 6d per passenger. For a thirty-five minutes' flight over the city and west of London the charge was £2 ss. Similarly other "joy flights" could" be made . m different parts of England and it was also possible for aviators to hire machines for certain periods if thev wished to do so. J As soon as civilian flying is permitted to places outside the British Isles through aerial services will be inaugurated to such places as Paris, Brussels, Madrid Rome i Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Christiania' ' Only experienced pilots are employed in the civilian air service, said Captain Isitt and the average salary was about £500 a year.