§ Mr. HALL-CAINEasked the Undersecretary of State for Air if he is now in a position to make any further statement with regard to the extension of a British commercial air-route to Australia, to Hong Kong and to and across Canada, respectively?
§ Sir P. SASSOONAs regards the British air route to Australia, the England-India air service was extended to Singapore in December last, since when a regular service to and from that place has been maintained. It is hoped that the final section of the route, that between Singapore and Australia, for which His Majesty's Government in the Commonwealth are taking responsibility, will be in operation by the autumn. As regards a service to Hong Kong, I would324W refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Kidderminster (Sir J. Wardlaw-Milne) on 26th March, to which there is at present nothing to add. As regards services to, and across, Canada—no concrete scheme for a trans-Atlantic air service is at present under discussion. At the same time, I understand that considerable progress has been made with the establishment of a chain of landing grounds across Canada, but I am not in a position to give any more detailed information at this stage.