Page 215 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

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main features of the 1934 Agreement except that the places at which Her Majesty’s
Government are permitted to establish and maintain aerodromes are limited to
three, viz., Salalah, Masirah and Gwadur. The last of these was included because
at the time of the signing of the agreement the British Overseas Airways Corpora­
tion were maintaining mooring buoys there for emergency landings by (lying boats.
These have since been removed. The agreement is renewable at the option of
Her Majesty’s Government and with the concurrence of the Sultan at the
conclusion of seven years, i.e., in I954.C39) The amount of subsidy payable is
£6.000 a year and the Article providing for this was subject to revision after three
years, i.e., in 1950. The Sultan has not, however, asked for its revision. In 1951
His Majesty’s Government considered the possibility of reducing the amount but
the Political Resident advised against it.(“°) The agreement was accompanied by
a new set of Air Navigation Regulations, which have not yet been enforced against
persons subjects to Her Majesty’s jurisdiction, and by a list of General Conditions
laid down by the Sultan to govern the use of aerodromes within his territory. The
Political Agent also wrote to the Sultan agreeing to Special Rules laid down by
him and conveying a number of assurances (Appendix E (v) and (vi)). These
affect the Royal Air Force more than civil aviation personnel and passengers
(paragraph 89 above). A copy of the Civil Air Agreement with the Air Navigation
Regulations and list of General Conditions but not the other documents accom­
panying it was registered with the International Civil Aviation OrganisationC")
without the consent of the Sultan, who would probably prefer to treat the
agreement as confidential.
93. The agreement has worked satisfactorily. Authority to permit the use
of the Salalah and Masirah aerodromes by civil aircraft has been delegated to the
Air Officer Commanding, Aden. Up to date no request for an authorisation for
a scheduled service to use these aerodromes has been passed on to the Sultan
and it is not known what fees he proposes to charge for such use. In 1949 he
stated his intention of charging a fee of £5 a year for each aircraft over-flying
Muscat territory on a scheduled service. It was pointed out to him that it was
not customary to charge fees for the mere privilege of over-flying(’,a), and though
he would not commit himself when he granted an authorisation to Quantas Airways
in 1951 to over-fly his territory he did not in fact make any charge.P43) In 1947
the Sultan with much reluctance permitted French military aircraft to land at
Salalah and Masirah as a special case on the understanding that this permission
would not be regarded as a precedent.(,M) There was some friction with the Sultan
in 1948 owing to the failure of the Royal Air Force to pay to him the customs duty
due on fuel supplied by them to civil aircraft at the rate of 2 annas a gallon,
efforts which had been made during the negotiations for the Agreement to persuade
him to exempt such fuel from duty having failed. The payment of all arrears
was eventually made and the arrangement has worked smoothly since. In 1951
the Sultan, while he was at Muscat, was asked to agree to an exchange of letters
to ensure that the flying approaches at Salalah and Masirah were kept clear of
buildings. He refused to accept the proposal until he had himself visited Salalah.
As it was considered unlikely that any buildings would in fact be erected, the
matter was dropped.(14S)
94. The only airfield in Muscat territory not covered by the agreement of
which use is ordinarily made by civil aircraft is that at Muscat itself. It is small
and surrounded by hills and can only be used by the smaller types of modern
aircraft. Hitherto the Sultan has only permitted its use on special occasions by
aircraft carrying passengers to or from Muscat on His or Her Majesty s
Government's business, towards the end of 1953 however he gave permission to
the Gulf Aviation Company at Bahrain to establish a regular service between
Bahrain and Muscat upon terms to be agreed after an experimental period ot tnree
months. Owing to the expense involved in improving the runway it was noi
certain by the end of 1953 whether the Company would pursue the project.

(■>•) 1.0. to F.O. n*t. 928/47 of May 6. 1947 (W 3412/16<802 of 1947).
a jsavr ■ssoEflEX" swRfflssswa' •

.« Tel. from Muscat to F.O. 21 of March 12. 195! (GA 60/4 of 1951).
fR O to FO November 12. 1948 (E 14711/4046/91 of |94M.
(-) P.'rmo F.O. 1382/26oNune 28. 1951 (OA60/26of 1951).