06 June 2011

The 1935 UK-USA bilateral air navigation arrangement

The arrangements on air services reached between the United Kingdom and the United States of America at Bermuda in 1946 created a model for many of the bilateral air services arrangements (see previous post).

What is less widely know are the details of the earlier 1935 arrangement that took the form of an Exchange of Notes (EoN) on 28 March and 5 April.

In this EoN can be seen many of the features that would appear in post Second World War bilaterals.

What is notably missing from the EoN is the right for UK airlines to operate to Hawaii.

As Dutch aviation historian Marc Dierikx notes in his article "Shaping world aviation. Anglo-American civil aviation relations, 1944-1946" (Journal of Air Law and Commerce 57(1992) nr. 4, p. 795-840), the EoN did not come into practical effect until the airlines of both sides (Pan American and Imperial Airways) were ready to commence regular flying boat operations across the Atlantic. This did not happen until 1939.

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