811.79640/120
Statement to the Press by Assistant Secretary of State R. Walton Moore10
As a result of the conferences which have been in progress since Thursday, December 5, between representatives of the United Kingdom, the Irish Free State, Canada and the United States, understandings have been reached which it is confidently hoped will bring about the early establishment of trans-Atlantic air transport services connecting these several countries. These understandings are based upon the principle of full reciprocity between the countries interested. They do not operate to exclude similar arrangements between the United States and other countries.
The Department of Commerce has given its approval to the establishment of trans-Atlantic airways by way of Canada, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free State to England, and by way of Bermuda to England, and from Bermuda to Puerto Rico, the latter route to be extended by mutual consent. The Atlantic Sea Board ports in contemplation as termini are New York City; Baltimore, Maryland; Cape Charles or Norfolk, Virginia; and Charleston, South Carolina, any one of which may be designated as ports of entry but no final determination with reference to places has yet been made.
It is recognized that the northern route is much shorter than the southern route and therefore will have the advantage of more economical operation but this fact does not preclude the possibility of considerable use being made of the southern route. It is expected that experimental flights will be begun early in the summer of 1936 and it is hoped that scheduled services will begin by the summer of 1937. When the full regular service is inaugurated, it is provided that there will be four round trips per week.
The matter of the carriage of mails is necessarily postponed for future consideration.
All of the conferences were characterized by a spirit of wholehearted cooperation and the conclusions arrived at received unanimous approval of the conferees.
- Mr. Moore was Chairman of the Aviation Conference; see Department of State, Press Releases, December 14, 1935, p. 521.↩