The British transatlantic airmail service will begin on June 1, if weather is reasonably favourable, and. will continue until ice blocks the Canadian and Newfoundland waterways. As stated above, the Cabot class will open this service; passengers will have to wait for bigger boats, The route will be from Southampton to Foyle, on the Shannon, where the boats will refuel in' the air after taking off, and then the familiar Botwood, Montreal, New York course.
When Pan-American Airways will be ready to start, is not yet known. In America it was said recently that they would begin before the end of this month. But there has been daly in the delivery of the necessary Boeings, and though two of them have been delivered, they may be used first on the Pacific where they are much needed.
Meanwhile it is interesting to record that in 1988 British Empire routes in working amounted to 88,000 miles, and British airliners carried over 2,000 tons of mail, the number of loiters being approximately 195,- 000,000, The extent to which aerial travel has increased even inside Great Britain may be gauged from the expectation that airliners this year are expected to cover 3% million miles and carry 225,000 passengers. And this is a country of small distances, excellent railways and very indifferent flying weather.
New air services are continually being added. British Airways has just announced three new daily returns between Heston and Berlin and (Warsaw; Frankfort and Budapest, and Brussels, There will be eight daily services on week days and five on Sundays between London and Paris, shared between British Airways and Imperial Airways. The former company have everything ready for an air service Lisbon. Now that Great Britain has recognized General Franco, his ban which has hitherto blocked this service ought to be lifted soon.
The Heston aerodrome just men-toned (everyone who has driven in or out of London by the Great West Road knows where it is, about seven miles from Hyde Park Corner) is. being developed very rapidly. In connection with it a new Adcock direction-finding station has just been put up on Hounslow Heath, two miles from the airport, which will guide aeroplanes to the aerodrome, reducing inaccuracies due to "night effect" and "trailing aerial effect."
Of course Heston itself is well equipped with apparatus to assist landing in fog. Much additional ground has been bought, but more is to be obtained. All the buildings d hangars are being rearranged and, when complete, Heston will extend right up to the Great West Road, and will provide 2,000 yd runways in all directions,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.