NEW AIR SERVICE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23080, 4 July 1938, Page 12

NEW AIR SERVICE

INAUGURAL FLIGHT BRITISH FLYING-BOATS ARRIVAL AT SINGAPORE ONE MACHINE REPLACED By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright SINGAPORE, July 1 The British flying-boats Cordelia and Challenger, which are inaugurating the last stage of the Empire air service between Singapore and Sydney, have arrived at Singapore, and are to leave for Australia tomorrow. The Challenger ha 9 replaced the Camilla, which turned back. This inaugural flight marks the completion of tho original plans made by Imperial Airways and its associated companies for flying-boat instead of landplanc services to Africa, India, tho Far East and Australia. Tho new services havo been planned to provide the fastest means of transportation ever between England and the Antipodes. They will cover the 13,000 miles to Sydney and fly half-way across the world from the summer of the Northern Hemisphere to tho winter "down under" in just over nine days, says Mr. R. Brenard. of the press department of Imperial Airways in a recent communication. Tho schcdulo of the first service is as follows, mileages between night-stops being indicated in parentheses:— June 26. Southampton to Athens (1672 miles). June 27. Athena to Basra (1724 miles). June 28. —Basra to Karachi (1384 miles). June 29. —Karachi to Calcutta (1397 miles). June 30.—Calcutta to Bangkok (1032 miles). July 1. —Bangkok to Singapore (957 miles). July 2. —Singapore to Sourabaya (993 miles). July 3. —Sourabaya to Darwin (1296 miles). July 4. —Darwin to Townsville (1204 miles). July s.—Townsville to Sydney (1200 miles). Bookings for the first flight were so heavy that two Imperial flying-boats, were necessary. They left Imperial Airways base at Southampton at dawn on June 26. The Australian - bound travellers will transfer to another unji of the Imperial flying-boat fleet at Singapore. Seven English journalists are among those booked for tho through flight. After this flying-boats for Australia will leave Southampton every Thursday and Sunday, while England-bound craft will depart from Sydney every Tuesday and Friday. The Singapore-Australia section of the route is operated by Qantas Empire Airways, an associated company of Imperial Airways. Up to the present they have employed landplanes, using an overland route across Australia to Brisbane. Recently Qantas took delivery of sis Imperial type flying-boats. These will supersede the landplanes on the main Singapore-Australia route. From now onward there will be a change-over to a marine air route, and flying-boat bases which have recently been established on the east coast of Australia will be used by service aircraft for the first time. The new route from _ Singapore is:—Klabat Bay, Batavia, Sourabaya. Bima, Koepane. Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Karumba, Townsville, Gladstone, Brisbane, Sydney.