THE DREAM TO FLY
Man has been fascinated by the flight of birds
for many centuries. Our quest to fly like the
birds led to many fantasies and inventions to
aid humans to 'fly'. The major breakthrough
came about on 17 December 1903 when Wright Brothers,
Wilbur and Orville, successfully lifted the
Flyer into the air at 10.35 am. Although the
flight lasted only 12 seconds and covered a
distance of just 121 feet (37 metres), it was
the first powered, manned, heavier-than-air
controlled flight in history.
EARLY AIRMAIL
The invention of airplanes in 1903 brought
about an important milestone in the postal history
of the world. Before air flights were possible,
mail was conveyed by mail boats, which took
up to 117 days for a letter from London to reach
Singapore. Today, it takes less than 7 days
for mail to reach Singapore and 13 hours for
passengers to travel from London to Singapore.
Experimental flights carried mail to many parts
of Southeast Asia in the 1920s and 1930s. The
first direct link with Europe was established
on 3 May 1933 when a KLM Fokker F-18 put Singapore
on the trunk route between Amsterdam and Batavia
(now Jakarta).
Mail - King of Airways
Despite the increase in air travel, the
faster carriage of mail was the prime concern
of most people. The earliest mail acceleration
from the Straits Settlements and Malaya to Europe
was via Imperial Airways Marseilles - London
air services.
Imperial Airways' first airmail carrier to
Singapore was "City of Cairo", which
arrived on 16 April 1931. A regular airmail
service between London and Singapore was inaugurated
by Imperial Airways on 22 December 1933.
Imperial
Airways however lagged behind KLM in the development
of air services to the Far East. Thus, most
of the acceleration of mail was via the KLM
Holland to the Dutch East Indies service. Subsequently,
Alor Star in Kedah became a stopover.
The two services, Imperial Airways and KLM
began competing in the post 1934 period, for
speed, efficiency and lower airmail rates. The
Imperial Airways 1938 all-up rate monopolised
all airmail to the countries in the Empire because
of the very low rates. Prior to this, the two
services introduced lower rates, faster services
and more frequent flights. A bi-weekly service
was introduced in 1935 and this linked Africa
and Europe through established services.
On 28 June 1937, Malaya's
first internal air service, Wearne's Air Service,
flew three times a week from Singapore to Kuala
Lumpur and Penang.
With further advancement
in the technology of flights, conveyance of
mail by airplanes superseded that of mail boats.
In 1937, 32 tonnes of mail was handled at the
Kallang Airport. Today, more than 23,000 tonnes
of mail is handled at the Changi Airport.
