The capacity of commercial aviation to exist on an independent
basis is a not unimportant question. To those who think so the report of Air France, the concern into which the five separate French aviation companies were fused two years ago at the instance of the then Air Minister, M. Pierre Cot, who has been on a private visit to London this week, provides fairly solid food for reflection. Receipts amounted to just under 82 million francs, and profits to rather over 2 millions: The State subsidy is 94i millions. In other words receipts were 62/ millions, and profits 92/ millions, less than the subsidy. Imperial Airways gets at present a subsidy of £310,000 (the French subsidy is equal at par to over £750,000), and last year paid a dividend of 5 per cent., which required just over £81,000, or about a tenth of the subsidy.
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