§ 79. Commander BELLAIRSasked the Secretary of State for Air the cost to the Government by reason of the subsidy for each person carried to the Continent by Imperial Airways?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for AIR (Sir Philip Sassoon)The air-craft operated by Imperial Airways, Limited, carry both passengers and goods, and it is not possible, therefore, to separate the cost to the State of these two classes of freight.
§ Commander BELLAIRSIs the hon. Gentleman aware that, making a liberal allowance for freight, the subsidy still amounts to about three times what the passenger has to pay to the Southern Railway to travel to Paris?
§ 80. Commander BELLAIRSasked the Secretary of State for Air what is the approximate cost to the State by reason of the subsidy for every mile flown by a civil aviation machine in the subsidised Imperial Airway Service?
§ Sir P. SASSOONIn 1926 the aircraft operated by Imperial Airways, Limited, flew 732,980 miles on the European subsidised services. During that year the subsidy was at the rate of £137,000 per annum, and therefore the cost to the State per mile was, approximately, 3s. 9d.