ENG-1959 — Page 309

258

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

on their regional routes; the introduction by B.O.A.C. of the pure- jet Comet IV on the London-Hong Kong route; and the introduc- tion by Pan American World Airways of the pure-jet Boeing 707 on round the world services.

Details of traffic for the year are:

Passenger Aircraft

Passengers

Freight

Mail

In

Out

5,256

5,246

146,396

156,667

1,358,912 kilos.

3,057,650 kilos.

476,478 kilos.

675,126 kilos.

POST OFFICE

Postal Services. The year 1959 saw new records established yet again in the volume of traffic handled and revenue collected.

The opening of new offices at Mong Kok and Kowloon City in October afforded much-needed relief to the Kowloon Post Office at Tsim Sha Tsui but shortage of counter space at the General Post Office continued to cause difficulties. A new office was also opened in October at Shek Wu Hui in the New Territories and is already transacting considerable business. The Air Mail Centre at Kai Tak had not yet been completed at the end of the year; but will be in service soon. This Centre will enable the public to derive maximum benefit from the noteworthy reductions in transit times which have been achieved by jet aircraft operating out of Hong Kong to all important points.

Parcel post routings were continuously revised in order to make the best possible use of increased shipping opportunities. Direct despatching arrangements increased from 95 to 112 as a result. Air parcel arrangements were extended towards the end of the year so that most countries could be served. Direct services increased to 39.

The Kowloon-Canton railway carried about 100,000 bags of mail in transit between China and countries overseas, approxi- mately the same as in 1958. An appreciable increase however took place in mail for China originating in Hong Kong, which, by December, was running at a rate of nearly 40,000 bags yearly.

At the end of the year, surface letter mails were arriving from 72 different places compared with 69 in 1958 and air mails from