HOLLAND’S ESTABLISHED AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20447, 27 October 1934, Page 10

HOLLAND’S ESTABLISHED AIR TRANSPORT SERVICE.

The Pioneers on the Longest Route: Co-operation of Three Companies.

By Hedda Dyson. The Centenary Air Race has brought into sudden prominence the excellence of Dutch aviation. In the papers and radio announcements reference has been made to the K.L.M., the abbreviation of Rontnklyke Luchtvaart Maatschappy, which, translated, is the Royal Air Mail Company (of Holland). The K.L.M. started experimental flights to the Dutch East Indies, a large territory belonging to the small country of Holland, about ten years ago, when three aviators—with the pilot Van dec Hoop—made the first trial hop in a Fokker and landed safely, after twelve days. Several other experimental tests were made after this, and at present the K.L.M. has a regular weekly service from Batavia (D.E.1.) to Amsterdam.

DUT( H have been in this respect the absolute pioneers in establishing the first and longest air route. For the last three years rumours have been circulating in the Dutch newspapers concerning K.L.M.’s intention to extend this air line to Australia, which Parmentier has demonstrated. The trip of Parmentier is therefore considered in the light of a propaganda flight which will probably ultimately result in a definite extension of the company’s service.

M hen the Emeraude perished and the cause of the catastrophe was attributed to condensation of moisture overloading the wings with ice, technical experts of the three companies were ordered to make a deep and thorough study of this danger with the ultimate object of eliminating it. Technical Assistance. The K.L.M. is deeply grateful to the Imperial Airways, who gave them much technical advice upon the routes to the Dutch East Indies, based on their previous experience gained through their CairoBaghdad line, which was later extended to Karachi. Thus, when the K.L.M. undertook their initial long flights to the Far East they found the route to Karachi well organised with air services and aerodromes, etc., so that they were able to continue to explore the way and to establish aerodromes and other aerial services, by which Imperial Airways benefited the following year when they extended their route to Singapore. In the beginning this pioneer work was no child’s play. Aerodromes were wet where the heavy machines sank down into the soil; the radio was used only occasionally, and generally no reply came in response to calls. The regular services of K.L.M. made the necessary improvements essential for the establishment of a safe and reliable route for passengers and transport. Sleeping Accommodation. Those airmen and airwomen who have made the trip to Australia have had all the co-operation of K.L.M. services in the Dutch East Indies up to Timor. K.L.M. is continuously experimenting with new types of planes, and the largest machine built so far in Fokker’s factory (he has now established a branch in Holland) will be the. F3G, a monoplane with four engines, cigar-shaped, with luxurious sleeping accommodation. F 36 will make the present route covered by the air routes to Batavia in February. It has a carrying capacity of 6400 kilos; its cruising speed will be 270 kilometres per hour, and it can accommodate 36 passengers. Interior decorations surpass everything in luxury, and the material used is soundproof: it is the acme of comfort. The droning of the motors is minimised so that the passengers are hardly aware of it. It is thus seen that the Dutch were the first to realise not only the importance and time value of aerial communication between their Mother Country and their Far Eastern colony, but also the commercial value that such an instituted organisation would give. The Dutch entrants in the Centenary Air Race have this initial principle as the basis of their participation; they are intent on demonstrating that K.L.M. can compete in such a rac«, flying to schedule time, following a route eliminated of all possible dangers, with passengers and mail (which is being delivered en route), without the engines extended to their full capacity.

Negotiations are going on about co-opera-tiow between Imperial Airways and the K.L.M. in respect to the Australian service, which will most likely be extended to New Zealand. If no satisfactory result can be obtained the K.L.M. has in mind to start this service on a competitive basis, forcing the fares and freights down. International Co operation.

The company has grown considerably in a few years, until it is now part of the world’s aerial transport. It has its aerial representatives in all international conferences, which, for a long time, have taken place between the three great aviation companies in Europe—Air France. Imperial Airways of Britain, and the K.L.M.—chiefly' concerning direct connections with the Far East and this part of the world. Without the necessity of infringing on each other’s private interests, these three companies have realised that co-operation is essential, and that sharp competition would ultimately only kill the profits for each of them. This co-operation has made it possible to establish a perfect service to the Far East, in which each company flies its own aeroplanes on a different day, this arrangement being as well in the interests of the travelling public as it is to the companies themselves. Imperial Airways thus leave Europe on Saturdays for Singapore, and K.L.M. on Thursda}*s for Singapore and Batavia; and return, the former on Sundays and the latter on Thursdays; while Air France leaves Europe on Wednesdays. All have ‘ the same scale of fares and freights. One of the greatest advantages of this co-operation is probably not only the benefit thus rendered to the public service, but also the fact that in this project the aeroplanes have to pass through and land in various countries. In the past the authorities of several nations often created difficulties, but now they ar& faced with the combined front of three powerful nations. The men who are thus organising the air services of the world are becoming one large family, everyone benefiting by the other’s experiences through this international scheme of mutual co-operation—-which is the keynote of their undoubted success. Not only the leaders themselves, but also their staffs, confer for mutual exchange of interests in order to derive the greatest benefits from each other's general experiences, and any problem or risk presenting itself is discussed by experts on the subject.