§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYasked the Secretary of State for Air (1) what progress has been made with the extension of the air mail service to Australia and from Cairo to Cape Town;
(2) whether agreement has now been reached with the Persian Government to permit British aeroplanes to fly over Persian territory on passage between Cairo and Karachi?
§ Sir S. HOAREThe service between Cairo and Basra continues to be operated once a week in each direction with 100 per cent. efficiency. As regards the Basra-Karachi section, the Persian Gov-1130W ernment have not yet agreed to the operation of the route along the shores of the Persian Gulf. As regards the extension beyond Karachi, the Government of India are commencing the organisation of the main route across India from Karachi to Calcutta, and the Royal Air Force have carried out a survey of the route from Calcutta to Rangoon and Singapore. As regards the Cairo-Cape Town service, the experimental service between Khartum and Kisumu has been interrupted by another mishap to the machine employed, but further experimental flights over the route will be carried out shortly by Sir Alan Cobham during the tour which he is about to make for the purpose of personally negotiating for the extension southwards of this route and the establishment of an air service in South Africa. The question of the provision of the subsidy necessary for the establishment of the Khartum-Kisumu air service on a permanent basis was considered at the recent Colonial Office Conference and has been taken up with the Governments concerned.