IMPERIAL AIRWAYS

History of Imperial Airways



History of Imperial Airways

Introduction

It has been observed that civil aviation was formed, and matured steadily at the time of two world wars, and it was characterized by enhanced government involvement. The causes were different, and it varied in each country. In Great Britain, France and Belgium, and Netherlands, the purpose of establishing aerial connections with their colonial territories was of immense importance. Many airlines, specifically, US and Japan used their international airlines for aiding their countries economically and politically. In the case of Japan, airlines were used for military penetration in regions where they held strategic interests. At this time, Great Britain, France and Germany also played a significant role for providing a peace time captive market for the domestic aviation industry. It must be noted that the most essential element that motivated countries and their use of airlines was national prestige (Green et al. 1994: 16).

In this essay, we will be discussing the history of Imperial Airways, the main development, and major milestones achieved by the company.

Discussion

During 1930s, various Britain's colonial territories connected to London by civil air transport for the first time. An airline, named as Imperial Airways, managed to carry passengers, mail and other freight. Imperial Airways was founded in 1924, and it has destinations between London, and other routes in continental Europe until 1927. After that, it took over the Royal Air Forces services across British territory between Cairo and Basra. Within few years, it managed to decide on the appropriate route through surveys that had been carried out by the management. It decided to open its services for passengers and mail to India and Africa. In 1929, the Basra service was extended to the east, first to Karachi, then Jodhpur and Delhi. From 1931 and onwards, it linked its services to Egypt and Sudan with Central Africa. In 1932, Imperial Airways moved towards Cape Town. Calcutta was joined in the routes of Imperial Airways network in July 1933; after which, the services were extended to Rangoon and Singapore (Dyos et al. 1974: 409).

From 1934, Imperial Airways started to operate a scheduled commercial passenger services between England and Australia. It was operated with partnership with the Australian airline Qantas Empire Airways. Other destinations of the airline were Hong Kong (1935), Khartoum and Kano (1936) (Jeremy 1999: 27).

Developments of Imperial's Services

The Arrival of Four Engines

In 1931, two new four-engine aircraft was developed for Imperial Airways. In late April, it was the arrival of the first of three seaplanes S.17 Kent class 'Scipio', which provided services in the Mediterranean, while in June the first Handley Page HP42 Class 'Hannibal', provided services for the London-Paris route. The HP42 existed in two models, the 42W version class 'Heracles' for European routes, 38 seats, based in Croydon, and version 42E Class 'Hannibal' for routes to Egypt, India and Central Africa, 24 seats (It must be taken into account that it was fuel efficient and carried extra luggage), based in ...