§ Sir G. Foxasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps he proposes to take for the future development of passenger and freight air services in East African dependencies; and what measure of assistance will be given to the establishment of private airway undertakings there.
Mr. Creech JonesThe future development of scheduled passenger and freight air services in East Africa has been entrusted to the East African Airways Corporation, a public corporation owned and financed by the Governments of Kenya, the Tanganyika Territory, Uganda and Zanzibar. Charter, air taxi and aerial instruction work may be undertaken by private companies, subject to licensing regulations which have been published, but not yet applied. No measure of financial assistance to private airways undertakings is contemplated.
§ Sir G. Foxasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will provide details of the present operating expenditure of East African Airways, as compared with Wilson Airways, which provided these services before the war, together with the total personnel now employed by East African Airways Corporation, the number and type of machines operating and the mileages covered per month in the course of regular services, compared with Wilson Airways.
Mr. Creech JonesThe full details of the operating expenditure of the East African Airways Corporation are not available at the moment, pending the clarification of the division of certain joint expenditure incurred under the contract with B.O.A.C. The East African Airways Corporation is under an obligation to publish details of its operating expenditure in an annual report of which I shall be happy to send to the hon. and gallant Member when it is received. It is impossible to compare the operating expenditure of the East African Airways Corporation with that of Wilson Airways, because Wilson Airways was a private company which did not publish accounts or statistics.
267WThe fleet of the East African Airways Corporation consists of five Dominies and one Rapide aircraft. The annual mileage is approximately 600,000 miles. The fleet of Wilson Airways, according to the Register of Aircraft, consisted of eight twin-engined aircraft and seven single-engined aircraft. The regular service mileage of Wilson Airways in 1939 has been calculated to be 565,000 miles. The total staff employed by the East African Airways Corporation consists of seven pilots, one Chief Engineer, seven trained Engineers, nine unlicensed Engineers, two Radio Mechanics and four Engineer Trainees. The remainder of the staff are employed in the administration of accounts and traffic serving on airlines passing through East Africa and the expenses are jointly shared. It is not possible to distinguish the numbers employed on East African local services. No comparison can be made with the staff of Wilson Airways, as the numbers of that staff are not known.
§ Sir G. Foxasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware of the unsatisfactory nature of the services being rendered by the East African Airways Corporation in East Africa at the present time; that there has been a considerable deterioration in the standards of service since B.O.A.C. control has been substituted for the private airways services which previously existed in those territories; and whether steps will be taken to improve the services in the near future.
Mr. Creech JonesExcept for the temporary suspension of air services from 2nd of September to 29th of September, due to circumstances beyond the control of the East African Airways Corporation, I am not aware that the services operated by that corporation in East Africa are unsatisfactory at the present time, nor that there has been any deterioration in their standard.