§ Sir S. Reedasked the Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been drawn to the serious delays in the arrival of the air mails in India; and what steps are being taken to prevent the loss and inconvenience which these delays and interruptions cause?
Captain BalfourThe increase in mail traffic due to the approach of Christmas has made it necessary temporarily to depart from the normal arrangements. The peak period of traffic for Australia and New Zealand is reached before that for India, so that recently all available accommodation on the three weekly flying boat services between England and Australia has been taken up by mails for Australia and New Zealand. During this period the Indian mails have been concentrated into two air dispatches weekly instead of five, and have been sent by the two weekly landplane services which terminate at Calcutta; but all mail for India has been cleared from the United Kingdom each week. As the volume of traffic for Australia and New Zealand decreases, the frequency of the weekly services to India will be increased as required.