Air Transport News
Page 51
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INAUGURATION OF NEW CONTINENTAL SERVICE.
ONJuly 2; British Continental Air= ways, Ltd., organized a luncheon at the Aerodrome Hotel, • Croydon, to give a send-off to the company's new service to .Ostend and Le Zoute, with three departures daily in each direction. Details of this service, on which de Havilland• Dragon Rapide aeroplanes (with two Gipsy Six engines) are being used, have been published in brief in Tire COMMerC1431 Motor.
To facilitate week-end visits, there will be an early departure from Ostend on Monday mornings, which will deliver passengers in .London in time for business. The service is being extended to Brussels on Saturdays and Sundays. Tile general agent is E. H. Mundy and Co., Ltd., Walsingham House, Seething Lane, London, E.C.3.
INCREASING IMPERIAL TRAFFIC.
THE rate of increase of passenger, freight and mail traffic on the Imperial air routes is important to the development of air services in Great Britain. The first quarter of 1935 shows heartening progress.
Passenger ton-miles for JanuaryMarch,. 1935, were 564,835, compared with 367,0'38 for the first three months of 1934; freight ton-miles totalled 127,213, as against 87,811; mail tonmiles, 269,425, as against 135,056; and passenger-miles, 5,884,234, contrasted with 3,830,609.
CROYDON—HESTON SERVICE WELL PATRONIZED.
THE Inner Circle Air Lines concern,
which runs a service between Croydon and Heston, has opened a booking office at Heston, where aeroplanes may be chartered and tickets booked for the various air services. Incidentally, the Inner Circle service, which runs four times daily, is filling a real need. In addition to being the most convenient and time-saving method of transport between the two airports, it provides the best value in "joy rides " that can be obtained anywhere. For 10s, 6d. return, one can fly in comfortable cabin aeroplanes of the latest type and the journey only takes 15 inins.
The service is well patronfzed and recently a 16-seater air liner had to be used to transport a large party. Normally, the machinea accommodate four persons.
SUNDERLAND SEEKING LAND.
ANapplication has been made by Sunderland Corporation to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for sanction to buy land at Glebe Farm, Whitburp, for a proposed aerodrome.
MANCHESTER'S 500 PASSENGERS IN A FORTNIGHT.
I N the last two weeks of June, 500 air-line passengers were handled by Airwork, • Ltd., • at Barton Airport. Manchester. This airport is used by Railway Air Services, Ltd.,. Blackpool and West Coast Air Services, Ltd., and Hillman's Airways, Ltd.
The heavy traffic has been due to the Manchester races and to the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races; also to the Municipal Tramways and Transport Association's conference, in the Isle of Man, to which a representative of The Commercial Motor travelled by air.
SHORTAGE OF PILOTS.
A FURTHER sign of the development of aviation generally is the distinct shortage of pilots having good qualifications. Imperial Airways, Ltd., has recently engaged 30 or 40 pilots for its big expansion scheme, and has opened a school of training to secure them the necessary navigators' certificates, etc. The increase in size of the R.A.F. Reserve schools has also made a demand for instructors, The Guild of Air pilots and Air Navigators, which does much work as an employment bureau, is anxious to hear from instructors or B licence pilots, having blind-flying and second-class navigators' tickets.
IMPROVING THE CROYDON CONTROLLED-ZONE SYSTEM.
TURTHER steps are being taken to simplify the telegraphic code system and the general procedure of the Croydon control of traffic, which means so much to the safety of aeroplanes operating on the scheduled services under conditions of bad visibility.
As from July 1, the ZZ code, which has been used for communication between Croydon and machines entering the controlled zone, has been replaced by three-letter code words starting with Q and, therefore, has come into uniformity with the international Q code. The Q code has the same meanings to a pilot of any nationality.
The control system is now spreading gradually over Great Britain. Aircraft approaching Croydon from any direction. between north-east and south (through the western sector), when the Croydon controlled zone is in force, must first obtain permission through • the Heston radio station, which passes them into the' London-Continent 'airway area. Further expansions of the " system may be expected.
OBSTACLES IN URGENT CHARTER OPERATION.
DOCTORS are using the internal air services to an increasing extent. A few days ago a West End doctor was called to Jersey on an urgent case and made arrangements with Air Commerce, . Ltd., Heston, to start at 6.30 a.m. on the following morning. As there would, be a high tide at Jersey, the machine could not land on the sands of St. Aubin's Bay, so arrangements had to be made to land on the racecourse and to have a customs officer there.
Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining a telephone call to the island and even a Lloyd's priority call (used in shipping emergencies) was unsuccessful, A telegram was sent off at El p.m. and reached Jersey the next day at 7 a.m., so that the necessary permission was obtained half-an-hour after the aeroplane had left London. The doctor reached his case in time.