IOR/R/15/2/515

The volume contains correspondence relating to the drafting and implementation of Civil Aviation Agreements and Air Navigation Regulations between the British Government and Sheikhs of Bahrain and Kuwait (frequently referred to as Koweit), all of which came into effect in 1934. The principal correspondents in the file are Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch, Political Agent at Bahrain, Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Adviser to the Government of Bahrain, and representatives of the Air Ministry and India Office.

There are multiple copies of the regulations contained in the volume, including: blank drafts drawn up by Government officials in 1933 (ff 11-16); one of the four original copies of the air agreement signed by the Ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Ḥamad bin ‘Īsá Āl Khalīfah, dated 6 June 1934 (ff 161-176); and printed copies of the 1934 Civil Air Agreements and Air Navigation Regulations for Bahrain and Kuwait (ff 185-187, 189-191, 193-194, 196-197). Correspondence related to the agreements deal with matters including: exemption of duty payable on aircraft fuel imported into Bahrain; priority given to military aircraft in using civilian aerodromes; authorisation requests (subsequent to the publication of the agreements) for aircraft belonging to Imperial Airways Limited, Indian Trans-Continental Airways and Qantas, to use aerodrome facilities at Bahrain.

The volume also contains two newspaper cuttings: one from The Observer (UK), dated 10 April 1934, commenting on British aircraft construction and technology lagging behind those of the United States and France (f 127), and a piece from The Evening Standard (UK), dated 28 March 1934, celebrating ten years of Imperial Airways (f 139).