AIR TRANSPORT NEWS
Page 45
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103 MACHINES AT LEICESTER AIRPORT OPENING.
ONJuly 13, Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister, Secretary,o1 State for Air, attended a remarkable aviation gathering at the new Leicester Airport and declared it open. The site was purchased in 1925 and comprises 154 acres, of which 724 acres have been. laid out as a landing ground. It is intended to buy enough surrounding land to give a minimum runway length of 1,000 yds. There is a combined beacon and floodlight, and the, equipment conforms with the Air Ministry requirements for a Class I airport.
On July 13, some 78 civil aeroplanes, as well as about 25 R.A.F. machines, attended, or took part in the inaugural display. There was an interesting demonstration of modern types, which, however, did not include many representatives of the transport class. Crilly Airways, Ltd., which runs daily air services connecting Leicester with Nottingham, Northampton, Norwich and Bristol, carried over 500 passengers on short flights at Sc. apiece. • Mr. W. Lindsay Ever-ard, M.P., who has done so much for Leicestershire and for aviation, gave a most successful dinner in the evening.
BRISTOL TRAFFIC AND DEVELOPMENTS.
TROM April 1 to June 30, 1,860 tare paying passengers arrived at or departed from Bristol Airport, not including those in transit on through services. The companies operating regular services to and from Bristol are Western Airways, T.td., Railway Air Services, Ltd., and Crilly Airways, Ltd.
The new passenger station is nearing completion and includes a main passenger hall, booking offices, Customs accommodation, meteorological offices, teleprinter room, wireless and control 'room, and airport manager's office. Floodlighting arid other night-flying equipment should be completed in September.
NORMAN EDGAR EXPANSION PROGRAMME.
SO soon as the landing ground at Weston-super-Mare is ready, Norman Edgar Western Airways, Ltd., will run trips to that resort from Cardiff and
Bristol. Next year a regular serving from Cardiff is proposed, to he run every hour each way. The time taken will be 10 minutes, which compares with 11 hour by boat, or 2 hours by train. Another scheme is for a service linking Birmingham with Weston in 45 minutes.
The arrangements are nearly completed for starting, this month, the new Cardiff-Bristol-London service, with arrival at Croydon in time to catch .the mid-day services to the Continent.
The company now incorporates Cam
brian Air Services, Ltd., of Cardiff, which was formed by Mr. S. Kenneth Davies, Col. R. G. Llewellyn and Mr. G. H. Wilson-Fox, to act as agent on the Welsh side.
GUERNSEY SERVICE SUSPENDED.
'THE service run by Cobham Air 1. Routes, Ltd., between. Croydon, Bournemouth and Guernsey, using Airspeed Envoys and Westland Wessex machines, has been 'suspended. The route is being reorganized, and the landing ground at L'Ei-ee on Guernsey is being improved.
REGULAR CHARTERS TO NEWCASTLE.
VVlearn—fhat 011ey Air Service, -Ltd,; Croydon, is -running .a service practically five days a week (not Saturdays and Sundays) between London and Newcastle, against a private-charter contract for about two months. Normally, a Dragon Rapide is used, although smaller machines are chartered if the load be small.
The Croydon-Deauville service, -now run at week-ends, will be operated daily from August I, the fares being single and £7 10s. return. .
INCLUSIVE TRIPS TO PARIS.
I N conjunction with Norman Edgar Western Airways, Ltd., "Bristol, Thos. Cook and Son, Ltd., is actively advertising week-end trips by air to Paris at an inclusive rate of £9 2s. 6d. from Bristol and £9 17s. 6d. from Cardiff, also week-ends at Le Touquet at respectively £8 Sc. and £9.
. BLACKPOOL-HESTON IN 66 MINUTES.
DECENTLY Capt. E. B. Fielden, a It pilot of United Airways, Ltd., flew from Blackpool to Heston, a distance of 197 miles, in 66 minutes, compared with the scheduled time of 1 hour 45 minutes, The machine was a D.H. Rapide, carrying five passengers.
On the following day he travelled from Blackpool to'Leeds in 20 minutes, against the usual 35-40 minutes, in a similar type of machine.
SHOREHAM AIRPORT TO BE OPENED IN SEPTEMBER.
-" joint municipal airport of Brighton, Hove and Worthing, at Shoreham, is now licensed and a large hangar is available. The terminal building should be ready at the end of August and an opening ceremony will be arranged in September.
The town councils have approved the 'recommendation of the joint airport .committee that 011ey Air Service, Ltd., be appointed to manage the airport for a term of five years from June, 1935. The company will also rim. regular air services from Shoreham. SOUTHAMPTON AIR TRAFFIC 100 PER CENT. HIGHER.
COMPANIES operating from Southampton municipal airport (which used to be called P:.,astleigh) report 100 per cent, better traffic than in June, 1934, and heavy bookings in hand for August. The total of passengers handled in and out, lasf month. was 2,751, and the total of aeroplane calls on commercial services, 631.,Between Southampton and Jersey, 2,035 passengers were, carried by Jersey Airways, Ltd.
A day in the Isle of Wight is now .worth while for Southampton people, because only 20 minutes are spent in travelling backwards and forwards by sthe.island ferries of Railway Air Services, Ltd., and Portsmouth, Sou thsea and Isle of Wight Aviation, Ltd.
The latter company's Paris service 'will officially start on July 22, hut may begin on July 19, so as to cope with bookings in connection with the S.S. " Normandie."
NEW NORWICH-THANET SERVICE AT 35s. RETURN.
NOW that the new Ramsgate muni • ciPal airport is practically ready, 'Crilly Airways, Ltd., which runs the BriStol-Leir ester-Norwich and the Not
tingham-Leicester-Northampton services, has decided to start a Sunday. -service to the Isle of Mallet, using a de Havilland Dragon, as on the other routes.
The machine will leave Norwich Airport at at 11 a.rn,, call at Ipswich at 11.30 a.m. and at.. Southend at noon, and will reach Ramsgate Airport at 12.20 p.m. On the return trip it will leave Ramsgate at 6.40 p.m., call at Southend andIpswich and arrive at Norwich at 8 p.m. This will he the first regular air line to call at Ipswich, Southend and Ramsgate, except for the Southend-Rochester air terry. •
Pleasure flights will be made at Ramsgate, on Sunday afternoons. The return fare for the whole journey will be 35s.
AIR TRANSPORT INVALUABLE FOR FILM COMPANIES.
THE chief pilot and managing director of Air Commerce, Ltd., Mr. L. Stace, recently did a creditable flight across England, which enabled a cinema film to be shown on the screen in Cardiff eight hours after it was taken near Newcastle. Mr. Stace left Newcastle at 4 p.m. with films of the race which is locally known as the Pitmen'. Derby.
The films were landed at Heston. developed in London, rushed hack to Heston, flown from there at 9.30 p.m. and were delivered in Cardiff in time to be shown on the screen at the midnight matinee of the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association.