EMPIRE AIRWAYS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21990, 22 December 1934, Page 11

EMPIRE AIRWAYS

EXPANSION SCHEME CO-OPERATION ESSENTIAL USE OF FLYING-BOATS MAILS AND PASSENGERS By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright LONDON. Dec. 20 In the House of Commons to-day the Under-Secretary of. State for Air, Sir Philip Sassoon, outlined a scheme for the development of Imperial air communications. He said the main features were: — (1) Faster schedules. (2) More frequent services. (3) All first-class mail matter to Empire countries to be carried* by air. The scheme envisaged a service to Australia twice a week, occupying seven days. Sir Philip said the whole scheme so far was provisional and depended upon the co-opera-tion of the Governments concerned. The Daily Herald says three of Britain's leading constructors have started on the preliminary work of building the first fleet of transatlantic flying boats. These will be capable of flying to Canada non-stop and carrying loads sufficiently great to make the ocean service a paying proposition. The machines will carry, firstly, mails, and then passengers. • The Evening Standard says the Empire is on the eve of the greatest airway expansion plun in its history. Imperial Airways, Limited, intends to abandon the present trans-European route and to use instead great flying boats via Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria and the Persian Gulf to India, thus avoiding alien territory. Gibraltar will become an air centre of first importance as a junction of the routes to the Far East, the Cape and South America. MAIL FROM INDIA RECORD CONSIGNMENT THREE MACHINES NEEDED (Received December 21, 6.5 p.m.) British Wireless RUGBY. Dec. 20 The largest amount of air mail ever despatched from India left Karachi yesterday in an Imperial Airways liner and two aeroplanes of the Indian Transcontinental Airways. The three machines carried 41501b. of mail matter. BENEFIT TO DOMINION TASMAN SEA PROJECT [BT TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION] ■WELLINGTON, Friday Commenting upon New Zealand's share in the negotiations with the British Government for an Empire air mail, the Postmaster-General, Mr. A. Hamilton, stated to-day that so far New Zealand had not dealt with the carriage of mail across the Tasman by air, but no doubt New Zealanders would look forward to the extension of this scheme from Sydney to New Zealand. It had to be recollected that the Government had elected to become a foundation member of the Empire air scheme, and now contributed £SOOO a year by way of token. The payment of a further sum would be necessary if New Zealand was to benefit by the new scheme, which must be regarded as even more startling than the introduction of penny postage within the Empire.