Minister, Ramsay MacDonald. After this prestigious launch, the Prime Minister and others were flown to Heston Aerodrome. Sword was a friend of Ted Hillman, another bus operator who was running an airline, Hillman's Airways, from London's Romford airfield, and they agreed that Sword should start a service from Glasgow to London via Liverpool, and on, with Hillman's, to Paris–Le Bourget Airport. He was apparently abandoning his intention to avoid competition with the railways. The service started on 9 April 1934, twice daily except Sundays, with the Avro 642 serving along with others of Sword's fleet. The Paris service could also be accessed through a service from Belfast via the Isle of Man to Liverpool. Demise All the airline's activity was going on while Sword was employed as a director with SMT. The other directors of SMT, some of whom were also directors of the newly formed Railway Air Services, with whom he was now blatantly competing, now decided that things had gone too far, and gave Sword an ultimatum that he should give up either his employment with SMT or his airline. He chose the latter. Other factors contributing to this decision may have been that Sword saw little prospect of making a profit from his venture, and the crash in June of the pride of his fleet, the Avro Eighteen, may have disheartened him. Most of the routes were stopped on 14 July 1934, with no obvious attempt to sell the airline as a going concern, the aircraft being disposed of individually over the following months. On 4 September 1934 Sword joined Eric Gandar Dower, owner of Aberdeen Airways, in a flight in the latter's Short Scion from Renfrew to Campbeltown and Islay. Gandar Dower was possibly evaluating the route with a view to taking it over, but nothing came of it. The only remaining route, to Islay, was shut down on 30 September. However Sword employed Charles Almond, an instructor with the Scottish Flying Club at Renfrew, to fly Dragon G-ACJS which was retained on stand-by to perform air ambulance flights until other arrangements could be made. The aircraft was sold to Northern & Scottish Airways on 7 January 1935 and they continued the ambulance service. Routes From timetable dated 9 June 1934 (No Sunday services on any route) Glasgow (Renfrew) — Liverpool (Speke) — London (Romford) — Le Bourget (twice daily) Belfast (Aldergrove) — Isle of Man