HC Deb 13 December 1922 vol 159 cc2936-7
Viscount CURZON

(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for Air whether the German Government has intimated that it will refuse to allow British commercial air craft above a certain size to fly over the frontier; whether the aerodrome at Cologne will, in consequence of this decision, be closed to air liners carrying on the service between London and Cologne; and whether His Majesty's Government are prepared to tolerate such a situation?

The SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Lieut.-Colonel Sir Samuel Hoare)

The answer to the first part of the question is that the German Government have made it a condition of according the right of British aircraft to fly to the occupied territory after 1st January, 1923, that German machines of equal flying capacity shall be allowed to fly over and land in occupied territory.

As to the second and third parts of the question, His Majesty's Government are fully alive to the urgency of the issues, and are considering them, in consultation with the Allied Governments, with a view to the protection of their interests.

Captain BENN

Docs this involve the revision of the Air Clauses of the Treaty of Versailles?

Sir S. HOARE

No, it does not necessarily.