ABSTRACT
Indo-China is, by reason of its geographical position, a necessary stage for commercial air lines on the route from Europe to China and Japan, but the advantages of position are to some extent counterbalanced by physical difficulties in the country itself. Except in the lower Mekong basin and Fleuve Rouge delta, level stretches of ground are rare; and even in the two main lowland areas floods often cover the fields, here almost universally cultivated with rice. The heavy summer rains, winter mists, and typhoons further hinder air navigation. Despite these handicaps civil aviation in Indo-China developed rapidly in the period after 1918.
