Letter (extract) AUCKLAND, 12 October 1944
TOP SECRET
I have pleasure in submitting to you the attached Note of the Agreement reached with New Zealand [1], as a guide to the delegations from Australia and New Zealand to the forthcoming Commonwealth talks at Montreal and to the International Aviation Conference to be held later at Chicago.
2. You will observe that it was agreed to advocate the following four objectives in the order of precedence shown:
(i) International ownership of the aircraft and operation of the services over prescribed international routes by an International Air Transport Authority appointed by the Nations:
(ii) In the event of failure to achieve the objective set out in (i) above, the establishment of an International Air Transport Authority with executive, economic, and other powers; any routes and services assigned by such Authority to British Commonwealth countries to be operative on lines similar to those described in (iii) below:
(iii) In the event that no International Air Transport Authority is established, even in accordance with (ii) above, and that a technical Convention only is agreed to, Australia and New Zealand will advocate the establishment of Commonwealth air trunk routes, to be operated preferably by a British Commonwealth and Empire Corporation, wholly Government owned, on the lines of the Australian plan prepared in London. [2] Such a Corporation would operate these Services under the aegis of a Commonwealth Air Transport Council representative of all Commonwealth Governments:
(iv) In the event of failure to secure agreement among Commonwealth countries to the establishment of a single airline- operating Corporation to operate intra-Commonwealth Services, Australia and New Zealand will advocate the operation of British Commonwealth routes by airline operators of the Commonwealth countries, the routes and services to be assigned to the respective Commonwealth countries by the Commonwealth Air Transport Council.
[matter omitted]
ARTHUR S. DRAKEFORD
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1 Not published.
2 See Document 177, note 7.
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[AA:A989, 44/735/832/11]