§ 72. Mr. Manderasked the Postmaster-General what proportion of the £98,000 provided in 1938 for the carriage of British air mails, referred to on page 46 of the Cadman Report, is payment to Imperial Airways, Limited, for the daily service London-Basle-Zurich; how much of this sum Imperial Airways, Limited, pay to Swiss Air for the carriage of the British mail on this route; and why the British company, Alp Air Line, Limited, should not be given the concession to carry this mail and receive this payment instead of the foreign company, in view of the fact that Imperial Airways, Limited, do not operate it themselves?
§ Sir W. WomersleyI am informed that no part of the sum of £98,000 to which the hon. Member refers represents payments for the carriage of mails. The mail service on the London-Basle-Zurich route is operated under a pooling arrangement between Imperial Airways, Limited, and Swiss Air, but I have no information regarding the amount of any payments made by the one company to the other. As regards the last part of the question, I understand that Alp Air Line is not operating a service to Switzerland, but in any event Imperial Airways are now operating their full share of the pooled services.
§ Mr. ManderIs the hon. Gentleman aware that the Alp Air Line have been asking the Air Ministry for two years for permission to fly to Switzerland and carry British mails; and can some answer be given to them?
§ Sir W. WomersleyI would suggest that the hon. Member might put a question down to the Air Ministry.