It is surely of the greatest importance that those engaged on the development of Civil Aircraft should give attention to all aspects of the economic operation of air transport and consider indirect operating costs and revenue, as well as the direct costs. This is no easy field of study and one may be accused of asking questions rather than providing answers. However, no discussion of short-haul transport can be complete without the fullest consideration of all aspects of airline cost.

Although the airframe, engine and accessory manufacturing industries are primarily concerned with the provision of vehicles, systems and equipment for Civil operators, they are also closely concerned with the utilisation of equipment and with the scale and direction of the developments of air transport in the future. We therefore subject to continuous study all areas of potential air transport growth and, of these, the short-haul domain is now of special concern.