Page 63 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

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122. The 1934 Civil Air Agreement was due to expire in 1938. The Ruler
had for some time been asking for increased payments owing to additional Imperial
Airways services. In November 1938 three clauses of the Civil Air Agreement were
revised.(24‘) Under these the Ruler agreed to the import of fuel and oil for aircraft
and of equipment for the marine base free of duty, His Majesty’s Government
undertook to pay the Shaikh in addition to the payments due under the original
agreement a sum of £150 a year for each additional service established by Imperial
Airways with effect from January 1, 1935, and the original agreement was extended
for seven years with effect from the same date. It may be noted that the Bahrain
Government were unwilling to exempt from customs duty fuel and oil used for
launches at the marine base at Manamah as it was considered that .those articles
should be obtained from the Bahrain Petroleum Company.(“s) At the end of 1941
the Ruler agreed to the further extension of the Civil Air Agreement for a further
period of seven years. In 1945 he accepted a definition of the term “ aerodrome ”
which had been proposed to him.(2,r').

123. In 1939 K.L.M. wished to establish an air service through Bahrain but
at first the Political Resident and other authorities were opposed to the proposal.
The question of permitting French and Dutch aviation companies to use the Arab
route had been considered in 1932 but was then considered impracticable and it
had been found possible to put the Dutch off since then. The French do not appear
to have pressed the matter. Eventually in 1940 it was found desirable to give
permission to K.L.M. to supplement the services of the British Overseas Airways
Corporation (who had taken the place of Imperial Airways) as a wartime measure
only.
124. In 1945 it was decided to obtain an extension of the Civil Air Agreement
considerably in advance of the date on which it was due to expire mainly to provide
cover for the erection of storage tanks for aviation fuel by the Anglo-Iranian Oil
Company on a Royal Air Force site, with regard to which the Bahrain Petroleum
Company were expected to raise difficulties^1’) (paragraph 66 above). In February
1946 the Ruler was asked to agree to the further extension of the Agreement for
seven years from December 31, 1948, as His Majesty’s Government wished to secure
their position for some time ahead before incurring any additional expenditure upon
aerodromes and aviation facilities in Bahrain.^48) At the same time he was asked to
agree to an amendment of Article 4 of the Agreement, the result of which was to
authorise Her Majesty’s Government to permit foreign aircraft to use the Bahrain
aerodromes without consulting him, and to certain minor amendments in the
accompanying documents. He accepted all these proposals and in August 1946
agreed to an amendment in Article 3 of the Agreement which was consequential on
the amendment in Article 4. In 1947 the schedule of landing-fees attached to the
Agreement was revised.(2,#) In 1951 a further revision of this Schedule took place.(”)
This had the effect of reducing the fees payable on the Gulf Aviation Company’s
aircraft, a matter about which complaints had been received from the Bahrain
Government and the Company’s manager.
125. In 1947 the possibility was considered of constructing a new aerodrome
at Hamalah on the west coast of the main island.(251) The site had been surveyed by
the Royal Air Force in 1944 and 1945 (paragraph 115 above) and had certain
advantages over the Muharraq site but the proposal was abandoned as being too
expensive.
126. B.O.A.C. flying-boat services continued, with a break in the first half of
1947 which led to many complaints, until 1949 when land-plane services took
their place, the Manamah marine base being handed over to the Royal Air Force.
In 1949 the company completed an air-conditioned rest house in Manamah and in
the following year they opened a new office there. In 1947 Iraqi Airways
established a service from Iraq, via Kuwait, to Bahrain. This is not covered by
(***) IO toF.O. P.Z. 8038/38 of December 14. 1938 (E 7531/59/91 of 1938).
>»») i'o to F.O. P.Z. 2686/38 of April 22. 1938 (E 2331/59/91 of 1938).
ib.'toF.O. Ext. 2239 of May 18, 1945 (W 7001 /148/802 of 1945).
(2*7) IO to F.O. Ext. 4226/45 of September 27. 1945 (W 13244/148/802 of 1945).
(”') IO to F.O. Ext. 6523/46 of September 26. 1946 (W 9539/5609/802 of 1946).
/«.) LO. to F.O. Ext. 329 of February 13. 1947 (W 1291/1291/802 of 1947).
fJ4e) M.C.A. to F.O. OF 3 of August 26. 1953 (GA 60/42 of 1953).
(«') I.O. to F.O. Ext. 126/47 of February 22. 1947 (W 1585/16/802 of 1947).