IOR/R/15/2/525

The file contains correspondence relating to the use by private aircraft of aerodromes along the Arab coast of the Gulf, chiefly of the RAF aerodrome at Muhurraq, Bahrain, but also the RAF base at Sharjah. The principal correspondents in the file are the Acting Political Agent in Bahrain, Captain Huge Dunstan Rance, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Crawshaw Galloway, the Air Traffic Officer at RAF Bahrain, Flight-Lieutenant M S Scotney, and officials from the India Office and Foreign Office.

The correspondence is in response to the arrival of an increasing number of private aircraft at Bahrain, most travelling from England to Australia, raising questions of: how best to ensure that the visas and passports for passengers and pilots are being adequately checked; whether private flights arriving at Bahrain are covered by the existing Air Navigation Regulations for Bahrain; and whether additional approval for private flights should be sought from the ruler of Bahrain. Included in the file is a letter from Rance to the RAF Commanding Officer (ff 18-19), with a list of the particulars of private flights required by the Political Agency, Bahrain Government and Quarantine Medical Officer, and a letter from Sheikh Salmān bin Ḥamad Āl Khalīfah, ruler of Bahrain (f 32), stating that he has no objection to private aviators landing at Bahrain, provided they possess the proper passports and visas. Later correspondence in the file concerns the means by which RAF officials communicate to the Agency, Government and Quarantine Officer on the arrival of private aircraft at Bahrain.