ABSTRACT

Civil flying in the United Kingdom was officially permitted after the war from 1 May 1919. A number of firms opened internal services during the summer months, but all were closed again in the autumn. Much more important was the inauguration of the routes to the Continent by Aircraft Transport & Travel, Ltd., and Handley Page Transport, Ltd. Doth these companies were subsidiaries of aircraft constructing firms and both opened services to Paris, the former on 25 August and the latter on 2 September 1919. Services to Amsterdam and Brussels followed. During 1920 they were joined on the Paris route by a third British airline, S. Instonc & Co. the shipowners, and for a few months by a fourth, Air Post of Banks. By the end of 1920 all four were in financial difficulties, and before the end of the year Aircraft Transport & Travel and Air Post of Banks had ceased to function. In February 1921 Handley Page Transport and Instone also suspended operations, and direct financial assistance from government was necessary to revive them. These two airlines received subsidy alone under a "temporary" scheme between February 1921 and March 1922, when a "permanent" scheme was introduced and the Daimler Airway joined in the competition on the only surviving route-that to Paris. A "revised" subsidy scheme covering several other routes was introduced in October 1922 and maintained until 31 March 1924. No effort will be made here to describe in detail the various subsidy

schemes,1 but it will become clear that financial assistance was necessary to the continued existence of British airlines after the crisis of the winter of 1920-21.