"الملف 7/27 إغلاق محطة سلاح الجو الملكي البريطاني في المحرق سنة ١٩٤٧ وترتيبات لصيانة مطار المحرّق وتزويده بالخدمات" [و‎‎١‎٠] (٤٠/٢٣)

/o
Ministry of Civil Aviation,
Ariel House,
Strand,
Ref :R.43104/47/ji , G2 London, '7.0.2.
6th October, 1947-«
Dear Harrison,
To meet the situation created by the gradual
withdrawal of R.A.^• staff from various aerodromes over
seas this Ministry has been discussing wita the Air
Ministry a plan for joint operation of a number of main
staging posts along the iCmpire Trunk routes. In effect
this has meant that the civil authorities concerned have
undertaken to provide civil control and a#radio staff
to take over from the R.A.the facilities which they
were operating during the war and have continued to oper
ate for R .a. F. and civil purposes up to the present.
Whereas in some colonies the local government
has been able to assume responsibility for the provision
of the civil staff> there are certain stations, including
those in the Persian Gulf area, where M.C.a . has had to
take direct responsibility for the provision of the
necessary civil staff. This has been done, in most
cases, through the agency of either B.O. a .G . or Internation
al Aerad io Ltd. (a Company formed by the three British
Airways Corporations to take over, where appropriate, the
operation of civil aviation ground services.) The expend
iture involved will be a direct charge on M.C.a. Votes
and we had therefore to obtain the Treasury^ approval
to our proposals. Whilst they were prepared to agree
that there was no alternative method of providing the
necessary technical staff, they have suggested that in the
case of the Persian Gulf Stations, we should discuss
witn you the possibility of recovering some part of the
cost from the local Shaikhs, This suggestion is based
on the assumption, derived from the Chicago Convention,
that each Governroent should provide the ground facilities
required in its territory for international air navigation.
This assumption has been accepted in the case of the
Colonies and we are now discussing with the Colonial
Governments the division of the cost of providing trunk
route facilities in their territories between local and
U.K. funds.
We are not in a position to say how much oenefit
the Shaikhs of Bahrain ana oharjah obtain from the operation
of British trunk route services through their territories
nor how much it would be reasonable to ask them to contri
bute towards the cost. v/e must, therefore, seek your
advice on whether we can expect a^y contribution fro/; them,
before replying to the treasury. <<e do appreciate, how
ever, that as we have to pay for the privilege of operating
aerodromes in these territories our chances of obtaining
any contributions from the Shaikhs must be very small even
if it can be established that they derive considerable
benefit from the operation of the services.
Yours sincerely,
3d. L.S* MILLS*
i? 1 . a .K .Harrison, Jsq.,
Commonwealth Relations Office,
.Vhitehallj S.W.I.
/