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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 1446.PDF
JULY 26TH, 1045 FLIGHT Eurape9s Air Transport Expansion of Network : Lessons from the Past : Qlance into the Future : The Need for Planning By VICTOR L. GRUBERG ALTHOUGH the pattern ot air routes shown on theaccompanying map is not a set arrangement likely• to be rigidly adhered to in the future, it is an indi- cation of the desires and plans advanced by different nations for the re-establishment of their air services. The routes indicated are based on proposals submitted by 17 nations to the International Conference at Chicago, and, needless to say, a considerable amount of research and planning have gone into their preparation. In this sense the network suggested is not a mere specu- lation, but rather reflects the needs of the nations, and ., allows a pre-view of Europe's future air transport ] development. The absence of British and Commonwealth proposals is due to the well-known different scheme with which the British Commonwealth came to the conference. Russia's plans for the operation of any international routes have not, as yet, been made public. From a superficial glance at the map, it might appear that as a whole the proposed network shows a consider- able intensification of routes over Europe. But in the light of achievements of air transport mobilised for war, one is frequently apt to overlook the fact that even before 1939 European air transport featured a closely woven pattern of routes. Europe is the focal zone of an economically highly active area in which 18.4 per cent, of the world's population and an overwhelming part of its industrial activity are concen- trated. Over 60,000,000 Europeans live in cities of 100,000 inhabitants or over, and it is such centres that generate commerce and transport. A feature of the proposed network is that, broadly speak- ing, it appears to be based more on considerations of economy than on those of prestige so popular in pre-war Europe. The highest concentration of routes and services coincides, of course, with industrial concentration, and overseas branches radiate in the general direction of national trade interests. European nations engaged in air transport recognised long ago that the internal Continental system cannot remain the final goal, but that its true func- tion is to be the feeder and distributor of a wider, inter- i,,. Continental network. Transatlantic Operations If the proposed network thus displays traditional fea- tures, it also embraces a number of innovations. The most striking of them is the increase in transatlantic operations proposed by European operators. This is partially due to the experience accumulated in transatlantic services during the war, the development of suitable aircraft types and to the increased interest in trade relations with America. The pre-war transatlantic 6urface transport (the air- borne volume was negligible) was primarily operated by American, British, Dutch, German and Swedish interests. All European shipping nations now display a keen interest in transatlantic air transport, and propose to secure a share in this traffic. A contributory factor in these plans is the desire to secure the much-needed dollar currency. Before the war, U.S. residents accounted for some 70 per cent, of the total passenger revenue on transatlantic ship- ping, and about 90 per cent, of this went to non-American shipping. Since about 50 per cent, of this passenger traffic was carried first and cabin class, a proportion might be diverted to air travel, and should this be secured by American-flag airlines, the flow of dollar currency into Europe would suffer a further setback. The international air transport arena which had been cleared of German and Italian enterprise is now marked by the appearance of new operators whose activities before the war were confined either to domestic routes or to a few small international services. Following closely in the wake of this expansion, new junctions have appeared and an increase in service of those already established. Inten- sification of transatlantic services, for instance, brings both Lisbon and Madrid within the orbit of the entire European and American network. No fewer than 13 routes operated by ten nations would, under the scheme, converge upon Lisbon and about the same number on Madrid. Perhaps a singular exception to the rather improved coverage is the North African coast, which shows hardly any increase in air connections compared with pre-war schedule- operated services. This is to some extent due to the absence of the two Mediterranean nations primarily inter- ested in that region, viz., France and Italy. On the other hand, the network of services converging upon the Middle East shows a considerable increase in route mileage to be operated by local enterprise, some of which enters the field of air transport operation? for the first time. The proposed expansion of the Egyptian system, for instance, covers services to Khartoum, Jidda, Teheran, Athens and London ; each of the newcomers, Lebanon, Syria and Persia, desire to span their operations over the Middle East; Turkey, who has finally come out of her shell, proposes*!*) establish services to Afghanistan, Greece, Iraq and Czechoslovakia. Middle-East Operators With the absence of British and French proposals and the elimination of Italian-operated lines, only two of the pre-war European operators remain in the Middle East field, viz., Holland and Poland. But the line-up of new- comers is impressive: the U.S. propose a route from U.S., via Dakar, Cairo, Basra to Karachi ; Czechoslovakia desires to operate via Athens, Cairo and Lydda to Bagh- dad ; Denmark from Copenhagen to Ankara, Baghdad and Karachi; Switzerland, Sweden and Yugoslavia also pro- pose to operate their routes to Egypt. This expansion of routes and services to the Middle East is prompted by the growing realisation of the value of rapid communications for securing export markets. Whether or not this increase in commercial transactions will be accompanied by an equally rapid increase in traffic remains to be seen. But there is little doubt that air transport has no equal as an instrument of export policy designed to foster and accelerate commercial relations be- tween the European countries and the East. Despite the overall expansion, especially in the direc- tion of overseas routes, the proposed European system shows in the main the same anomalies which plagued it before the war. A glance at the map will readily demonstrate the some- what disorderly layout of routes and reveals the lack of uniform planning which at best had been confined to group consultation and tentative reciprocal arrangements. If this, then, is the prognosis of the shape of things to come, one might perhaps hope that since the situation in Europe is still very much unsettled, nothing will happen too early. For although European aviation had made im- portant strides on the way to a better cohesion and co- operation, the lack of effectively planned and co-ordinated central guidance constantly impeded its efficiency. With an area of 1,925,000 square miles and a popula- tion of 338,356,000, excluding U.K., Continental Europe had 34 air transport companies operating a network of 73,160 route miles in 1932. By 1938 the number of com- panies went down to 24, which operated 210,980 route miles, of which the U.S.S.R. alone accounted for not less than 65,865 km. The U.S., with an area of 2,977,000 square miles and
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