Imperial Airways

The Eastern Route

 

           The Eastern Route was developed over a twenty-year period from 1921 to1940 with Imperial Airways first regular airmail service starting with a part of the route in 1927. The actual start of the Eastern Route was in October 1921 when the RAF began hauling the mail on a weekly airmail service between Cairo and Baghdad.  This was a long haul over the desert and a long track was laid out in the sand as a navigational aid.

 

            On 12 January 1927, the RAF Cairo – Baghdad service was assigned to Imperial Airways and the route was extended on down to Basrah.  The aircraft selected to fly the route was the DH 66 Hercules.

 

            Service between London and Karachi had been a long time waiting, but the day had arrived when on 30 March 1929 service was started. The journey took 7 days.  The route from London was:

 

London – Paris – Basle by air. DH 66 Hercules

Basle – Genoa by rail.

Genoa – Alexandria by air Short Calcutta flying boat

            Intermediate stops at: Rome – Naples – Corfu – Athens – Tobruk.

Alexandria – Karachi by air DH 66 Hercules

Intermediate stops at: Gaza – Rutbah Wells – Baghdad – Basrah –Bushire – Lengeh – Jask – Gwadar.

 

Starting 31 August 1929, mail could be flown to Karachi by air and then sent on to Singapore by sea.  Problems with the Italian Government had arisen over flyover rites; therefore on 2 November 1929 the route from London to Athens was moved north via Cologne, Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade.  The route was:

 

London – Paris – Cologne – Nuremberg – Vienna – Budapest – Belgrade – Skopje – Salonica – Athens – Crete – Alexandria. Aircraft AW Argosy. The route from Athens to Alexandria was no longer via Tobruk, but via Mirabella in Crete. The mountains between Skopje and Salonica proved to be too treacherous, the “all-air route” was closed after two flights.

 

Several experiments were made with flights from London to Australia.  The first of these experiment flights left Croydon on 4 April 1930 on the regular Imperial Airways service to Karachi and Delhi.  The Queensland and Northern Territories Air Service (Qantas) from Darwin to Brisbane was next and then Australian National Airways (ANA) service from Brisbane to Melbourne was next.  The plan was to connect these services with Imperial Airways flying the missing leg from Delhi to Darwin. 

 

 

The route was: Karachi – Jodhpur – Delhi – Allahabad – Calcutta – Akyab – Rangoon – Bangkok – Alor Setar 31 – Penang 34 – Singapore – Batavia – Surabaya – Koepang – Darwin. 

            16 May 1931 saw the revised Genoa to Athens route go into effect.  The revision was very similar to the original route of 1929 with Naples replacing Rome.  The plane used between Genoa and Alexandria was the Short Kent flying boat.

 

The new route:

            Croydon – Paris – Basle – Genoa           AW Argosy

            Genoa – Naples – Corfu – Athens        Short “Kent”

            Athens – Crete – Alexandria

 

            A major change was that the onward passengers from Alexandria to Cairo were by rail.  The first onward flight from Cairo was:

Cairo - Baghdad by DH 66 – Jask – Karachi - Delhi

 

Constantly involved in problems with the Italian Government relative to clearances to fly through Italian airspace, 17 October 1931 saw another route change.  Paris  - Brindisi, Italy would be by train.

 

            The route now would be:

            London – Paris

            Paris – Brindisi   by train

            Brindisi – Corfu – Athens          Kent flying boat.

            Athens – Castelrosso – Haifa

            Haifa – Tiberias  - by car

            Tiberias – Alexandria   - by air.

 

            With this new route change, previously, the London – India service and London – Africa service only separated in Egypt.  There were now two completely different services from London with the Indian service leaving on a Saturday and the African service leaving on a Wednesday.

 

Bill Odell and the Bluegrass Imperial Team

 

 

Links to print the schedules below.

Page1         Page2         Page3         Page4

 

 

 

IMPERIAL AIRWAYS

And Associated Airways “All Air Route”

ENGLAND-EGYPT-PALESTINE-IRAQ-PERSIAN GULF-INDIA-BURMA-SIAM-HONG KONG-MALAYA-AUSTRALIA

Effective 1 September 1936 until further notice

 

LONDON-BRUSSELS-COLOGNE

NURNBURG-VIENNA.

Your Captain Speaking: Ladies and Gentlemen, today we will be flying at an altitude of 3,500ft and our route today takes us across the Channel to firstly, Brussels, then to Cologne, Nurnburg, then at 5,500ft altitude along the Danube valley via Linz to Vienna, where we spend the night. 

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

EGCR Croydon

06.00

NOTES: Aircraft HP42. Depart Wed, Sats

Miles

EBBR Brussels

09.05

ί + 1 hr time change.

182

EDDK Cologne

10.30

 

101

EDDN Nurnburg

13.15

Lunch at Airport

171

LOWW Vienna

Arrive evening. Overnight at Hotel.

238

 

VIENNA-BUDAPEST-BELGRADE

SKOPJE-SALONIKA-ATHENS.

Your Captain Speaking: Today we will be flying at an altitude of 5,500ft and our route takes us via Gyor to Budapest and then on to Belgrade. From Belgrade we fly via Nis to Skopje and then to Salonika at an altitude of 7,500ft. From Salonika to Athens, we fly at an altitude of 5,500ft and due to the mountains, we pass directly over the airport, turning over the bay and Piraeus harbor to land at Athens where we will spend the night. 

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

LOWW Vienna

 06.00

NOTES:, Aircraft HP42. Dep Thu, Sun
Miles

LHBP Budapest

 07.35

 

116

LYBE Belgrade

 09.40

 

165

LWSK Skopje

 12.45

Lunch at Airport

189

LGTS Salonika

 14.20

(Thessalonica)

106

LGAT Athens

Arrive evening. Overnight at Hotel.

171

                                                                                   

ATHENS-CRETE-ALEXANDRIA-CAIRO

Your Captain Speaking: Today we fly at 3,500ft altitude over the Mediterranean Sea via Milos Island to Crete. From Crete, we leave with a maximum fuel load and, to avoid the mountains, we fly in an easterly direction along the northern coastline, across Mirabella Bay to the end of the island before turning southwards to Alexandria, after which we have a short flight to Cairo which is the termination of this flight.

ICAO Airport

Dep

 

LGAT Athens

08.30

NOTES: Aircraft HP42. Dep Mon, Fri

Miles

LGIR Crete

11.40

(Iraklion)

169

HEAX Alexandria

 15.40

 

346

HEAZ Cairo

Connects with flights to the Far East and Cape Town.

101

                                                                                                                                 

ALEXANDRIA-GAZA-RUTBAH WELLS -BAGHDAD

Your Captain speaking: Ladies and Gentlemen, today we will be flying at an altitude of 3,500ft and our route takes over the Suez Canal, to Gaza. From there, we climb to 5,500ft and pass over the Dead Sea, which is 1,323ft below sea level. We then cross over the Syrian Desert to Rutbah Wells to refuel and from there on to Baghdad, crossing over the Euphrates River and on approach to the Airport, we can see the Tigris River in the east.  

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

HEAZ Cairo

06.00 

NOTES:Aircraft HP42 . Dep Tuesdays

Miles

LVGZ Gaza

09.45

 

180

OR1I Rutbah Wells

13.00

Fuel stop only. FS2002 uses Z16W

346

Z15M Baghdad

 Land at Muthenna Airport. Overnight stop at Hotel. 

185

BAGHDAD-BASRAH-BAHRAIN-SHARJAH

Your Captain speaking:Our route today takes us along the Arabian shoreline of the Persian Gulf to Kuwait, Bahrain and Sharjah. We will be flying at an altitude of 1,500ft.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

ORBS Baghdad

05.30

 NOTES:Aircraft HP42. Dep Wednesdays

Miles

ORMM Basrah

09.50

 

244

OKBK Kuwait

11.00

Stop on request or inducement only.

80

OMBI Bahrain

14.00

 

234

OMSJ Sharjah

Arrive evening. Overnight stop at Hotel.

268

 

SHARJAH-GWADAR-KARACHI-JODPHUR

Your Captain speaking:We will climb to an altitude of 4,000 ft to clear the mountains, then descend to 1,500ft and cross south of the Straits of Hormuz and follow the coastline to Jiwani along the shores of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. From there we  fly to Karachi, change aircraft and fly to Jodphur where we will spend the night.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

OMSJ Sharjah

05.30

NOTES:Aircraft HP42. Dep Thursday

Miles

OPJI Jiwani

09.40

Refuel stop

342

OPSE Karachi

13.30

Land Farea Faisal Airport. Change to AW15

292

VIJO Jodphur

Arrive evening. Overnight stop at Hotel. 

331

 

JODPHUR-DELHI-KANPUR-ALLAHBAD-KOLKATA

Your Captain speaking:Today we climb to 5,500ft and fly to Delhi, where we will get a distant view of the Himalayas on our left. Then on to Kanpur, Allahbad to Kolkata where we will spend the night.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

VIJO Jodphur

05.30

NOTES:Aircraft AW15 . Depart Friday

Miles

VIDD Delhi

08.00

(Safdarjung)

265

VIKA Kanpur

10.50

 

212

VIAL Allahbad

13.00

Lunch at Airport

 95

VECC Kolkata

(Calcutta) Arrive evening. Overnight at Hotel

404

 

KOLKATA-AKYAB-RANGOON-BANGKOK

Your Captain speaking:Today we climb to 5,500ft and fly over the many mouths of the Ganges River where it empties into the Bay of Bengal, to Akyab. Then on to Rangoon and  Bangkok where we spend the night.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

VECC Kolkata

05.00

(Calcutta) NOTES:Aircraft AW15.Dep Saturday

Miles

VYSW Akyab

08.40

(Sittwe)

274

VYYY Rangoon

12.30

(Yangon)

267

VTBD Bangkok

Arrive evening. Overnight stop at Hotel.

315

                                                            

BANGKOK-ALOR STAR-PENANG-SINGAPORE

Your Captain speaking:Today’s route takes us down the Burmese and Malaysian Peninsular between the Gulf of Siam and the Andaman Sea to Alor Setar and Penang.

We then continue to Singapore Island and land at Seletar. We will be flying at 5,500ft.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

VTBD Bangkok

06.00

NOTES:Aircraft AW15 . Depart Sundays

Miles

WMKA Alor Star

11.20

(Alor Setar).

464

WMKP Penang

13.00

(Penang) Connects with flight to Hong Kong

 55

WSSL Singapore

Arr evening at Seletar. Overnight stop at Hotel. 

317

 

 

SINGAPORE-PALEMBANG-BATAVIA-SURABAYA

Your Captain speaking:Today we will be flying at 3,500ft and our route takes us  to Palembang on Sumatra island, then across  the Java Sea to Batavia. We then continue along the Northern shores of Java Island to Surabaya where we will spend the night.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

WSSL Singapore

05.30

NOTES:Aircraft AW15. Depart Mondays

Miles

WIPP Palembang

08.35

Refuel stop

263

WIIH Batavia

13.00

(Jakarta, Halim Airport)

209

WRSJ Surabaya

Arr late afternoon at Juanda. Overnight stop at Hotel

358

 

SURABAYA-RAMBANG-KOEPANG-DARWIN

Your Captain speaking:Our route today at 3,500ft follows the northern coastline of Java, passing Bali and Lombok islands with their towering Volcanoes. We turn south into the Lombok Strait and land at Rambang. We then fly in a south easterly direction and follow the southern coastline of Sumbawa island for a while, then cross over to Waingapu Island and continue an  easterly heading for Koepang on Timor Island. From there, we fly across the Timor Sea to Darwin, where we will spend the night.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

WRSJ Surabaya

05.00

NOTES:Aircraft AW15 . Depart Tuesdays

Miles

WRRA Rambang

07.20

(Selaparang) Refuel stop

209

WRKK Koepang

12.45

(Kupang) Land El Tari.

458

YPDN Darwin

Arr evening. Overnight stop. Dep Tue, Sat

445

 

 

 

 

DARWIN-DALY WATERS-MT ISA-LONGREACH

Your Captain speaking:G’Die folks, this is yer Strine Cap’n. We fly today at 5,500ft and our route takes us via Katherine to Daly Waters and we can see the Gulf of Carpenteria on the left. From there it is on to Mt Isa, the Mining region to Longreach where we will spend the night.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

YPDN Darwin

05.30

NOTES:Aircraft AW15 . Dep Wednesdays

Miles

YMHU Daly Waters

09.50

McArthur River Mine closest. Refuel

387

YBMA Mt Isa

13.20

 

318

YLRE Longreach

Arr evening. Stopover at Hotel

314

                                                                                                                               

 

LONGREACH-CHARLEYVILLE-BRISBANE

Your Captain speaking:Today we fly at 5,500ft and over the forest areas to Charleyville and then on to Brisbane where we can see the Brisbane River flowing into Moreton Bay.

ICAO Airport

 Dep

 

YLRE Longreach

6.00

NOTES:Aircraft AW15 . Depart Thursdays

Miles

YBCV Charleyville

08.50

 

208

YBAF Brisbane

Arr afternoon Archerfield. Termination of flight

352

 

 

From the Bluegrass Imperial team, we trust you have enjoyed your flight and hope to see you again.

 

 

Bill Odell

 

Back to Imperial Airways main page