883.7962/8–944
The Minister in Egypt (Tuck) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 18.]
Sir: [Here follows an account of events relating to Almaza Airdrome covered in the preceding telegrams.]
John Payne Field was developed by the USAAF8 in 1943 for the use of the ATC.9 It is located on comparatively high ground about [Page 60] 13 miles east of the center of Cairo and has been described as the best airport in Africa. The land on which it is located was acquired from the RAF,10 which had obtained possession of it under Anglo-Egyptian treaty terms.11 Actually the land is understood to belong in part to the Egyptian Government and in part to the Heliopolis Company. It is said that the owners have no official knowledge of the fact that an airport has been constructed on their land. On this property the United States will have expended the following sums in construction work:
| Original investment | $1,556,000 |
| Additions to April 23, 1944 | 285,000 |
| Estimated present program | 811,000 |
| Total | $2,652,000 |
Only about 10 percent of the costs to date represent reciprocal aid from the British, and it is assumed that substantially the same percentage will apply to the entire cost when completed. Payne Field has two runways of 7,000 feet each, as already mentioned, in addition to one of 6,000 feet. It is said to be possible to extend at least one of these to 9,000 feet if necessary, but the present runways have proved adequate for the use of the new B–29 Super Fortresses.12
In conclusion it may be noted that the British are actively developing a large airport13 which already serves all of the civilian airlines operating through Cairo. Moreover, this is being done largely at the expense of the Egyptian Government. Payne Field, however, handles no civilian services, is being developed entirely at American expense and is located on land which it may well be necessary to vacate at the end of the war. The desirability of an early agreement with the Egyptian Government on this point seems obvious, perhaps along the lines of that recently concluded with Iceland14 and in connection with the Lend-Lease Agreement now being negotiated with Egypt.15
Respectfully yours,
- United States Army Air Forces.↩
- Air Transport Command.↩
- Royal Air Force.↩
- Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, signed at London, August 26, 1936, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. clxxiii, p. 401.↩
- The Minister in Egypt furnished further and detailed technical information on Payne Field in his despatch No. 218, September 9, 1944 (893.248/9–944).↩
- The Almaza Airport.↩
- In a memorandum of August 29, John O. Bell of the Aviation Division wrote that so far as he knew “there has been no recent agreement with Iceland with respect to airports …” (883.7962/8–944).↩
- For correspondence relating to Lend-Lease negotiations with Egypt in 1944, see Foreign Relations, 1943, vol. iv, bracketed note on p. 65.↩