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Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Aviation Division (Morgan)
| Participants: | Brigadier J. Holthouse, Air and Military Attaché of the South African Legation |
| Colonel Leverton, Colonel Greathead and Captain Fletcher, representing the Union of South African Airways who have come to this country to study airport construction and airline operation. |
After a brief discussion of the objects of their visit, I took occasion in an informal and strictly personal manner to discuss some of the [Page 511] questions relating to post-war international aviation. Speaking only for themselves but obviously reflecting general opinion in South Africa, they said that they were strongly inclined towards an international authority with broad powers over international aviation, including the licensing of airlines, fixing rates and frequencies, etc.
For themselves they apparently envisaged only international operations between South Africa and London via Cairo, and they did not seem greatly concerned lest their own traffic might be unduly affected by other airlines coming in under permission of an international authority. On the contrary, they felt that the more airlines wanted to come to South Africa and were permitted to do so the better it would be for them from an economic viewpoint.
With respect to cabotage, they brought up one interesting point. They had noted Lord Beaverbrook’s report to Parliament on the agreement between himself and Mr. Berle on the subject of cabotage and said this would not satisfy South Africa. South Africa felt that the neighboring Crown Colonies and self-governing colonies should be considered as being within a South African sphere of influence, and South Africa would not be satisfied to have air commerce between these territories and Great Britain reserved to the latter.
They said that present plans provided for the establishment of only one international airport, which would be at Johannesburg, the industrial center of the Union. International airlines would be permitted to land there with rights of commercial entry, but air traffic between Johannesburg and other cities of the Union would be reserved to the South African airlines. To facilitate this intra-Union traffic, large airports suitable for the operation of four-engined planes will be built at Durban and Capetown. These airports will not be made ports of entry for foreign aircraft.