ABSTRACT
Imperial airways came into existence on 1st April, 1924, and after a short delay began operating the following European routes: London-Paris, London-Brussels-Cologne, London-Amsterdam-Hanover-Berlin, and London-Paris-Basle-Zurich. The year 1927 marked little progress so far as Imperial Airways were concerned. The Persian Government refused to ratify their provisional agreement allowing the Basra-Karachi section of the Egypt-India service to operate along the Persian coast of the Persian Gulf, and offered an inland alternative that was quite impracticable. The Kelly Act, which opened up possibilities for private profit, combined with growing public interest, had, at this time, attracted to aviation the attention of high finance. Imperial Airways were accordingly forced to fly to Egypt via Central Europe and Athens, a route more suitable for summer than for winter operations. The Karachi to Delhi air service was operated by the Government of India with aircraft chartered from Imperial Airways. This shows that even within the British Commonwealth and Empire difficulties could arise.
