§ Lieut.-Commander Tufnellasked the Postmaster-General whether he will state the results to date of the cheap air-mail service to East Africa; whether the number of letters sent has met the cost; and whether the air mail has always been able to carry without delay the letters making use of this service?
§ Major TryonDuring the period from the inauguration of the Empire Air Mail Scheme on the route to East and South Africa until the 30th of October an average of about 5½ tons of mails for African destinations was despatched by air from this country each week, of which rather over a ton was for East Africa. With regard to the second part of the question, the estimated initial loss 1289W entailed by the adoption of the flat postage rate of per half ounce under the Empire Air Mail Scheme taken as a whole is, as explained in the White Paper (Cmd. 5414), of the order of £200,000 a year; and the traffic offering during the short period of operation of the African section of the Scheme gives no ground 1290W for supposing that the estimate of initial loss on the complete Scheme will be wide of the mark. In reply to the third part of the question, 39 out of the first 48 flights to East Africa arrived at Kisumu on the due date, and on only one of the nine remaining flights did the delay exceed one day.