§ Mr. HALL-CAINEasked the Postmaster-General by what annual amount the fees charged to the public in Great Britain for the use of the French air-mail service to South America falls short of the charges that have to be paid by his Department; whether this sum is deducted from the profit of £13,000 per annum made by his Department from British commercial air services in order to arrive at the present aggregate Post Office profit from air mails of only £5,000 per annum; and whether he will take steps to rearrange all air-mail charges at an early date so as to provide that the pay- 34W ments made to the British services are at least no less favourable than those to the foreign services?
§ Sir K. WOODThe air fees charged to the public in this country for the use of the French air service to South America fall short of the cost of conveyance by approximately £3,000 per annum. This sum, together with the loss on air mails carried by other services, is deducted from the profit of £13,000 to arrive at the net profit of £5,000 a year. The charges for the carriage of mails by the French air sevices are fixed by the Fench Post Office and cannot be modified by my Department, while an increase in the payments for conveyance of mails by British services would entail a corresponding increase in the fees to the public.