Mr. ROSTRON DUCKWORTHasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air when it is anticipated that the decision will be announced as to the allocation of the air-mail contract for a British service to South America; what procedure will be adopted; what will be the amount of subsidy involved; and what is the comparable subsidy given by France in respect of her air-mail service to South America?
§ Sir P. SASSOONIt is not possible to give a definite date for the announcement of the allocation of this contract, but there will, of course, be no avoidable delay. The closing date for the receipt of tenders is the 31st July and the schemes then submitted will be considered by the Inter-Departmental Committee on International Air Communications, whose recommendations will be conveyed to my Noble Friend. The amount of subsidy cannot yet be stated; it will depend upon the proposals made in the tenders of the competing companies under that head. As regards the last part of the question, the figures published indicate a payment to the company by the French Government in the neighbourhood of Frs.35,000,000 a year.