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Aviation History
1945
1945 - 0393.PDF
FEBRUARY 22KD, 1045 CIVIL AVIATION FLIGHT •93 A Scottish Plan REGIONAL ORGANISATION OF AIR TRANSPORT. A PLEA FOR PRESTWICK THE Scottish regional plan for commercial aviation whichis now engaging the attention of all Scottish planningagencies and local authorities, and for which the vigor-ous support of all Scottish Members of Parliament has been pledged, is described in a survey published under the title"North Atlantic." The project is not concerned merely with airports. It pro-poses the enlargement of British commercial aviation by the creation of operating organisations on a regional basis, andadvocates:— (1) Overseas and internal airlines based on Prestwick andoperated by a company native to Scotland. (2) The development of Prestwick Airport as first alterna-tive to Heathrow, the London terminal, and as a junc- 4 # tion for the various services through the northern hemi-sphere operated by Britain and other nations. (3) The creation of a commercial aircraft manufacturingindustry affiliated for design experience to the Prestwick commercial airlines.In order to sei?e the opportunities of the next ten years which Britain has by virtue of jeing the centre of a hemisphere con-taining more than 90 per cent, of the world's population, more than 90 per cent, of the world's industrial activity, and there-fore more than 90 per cent, ct potential air traffic, the survey says that Britain must revise its judgment on the followingpoints :— " The first concerns costs Prior to 1939 overseas air trans-port lived on subsidy and political protection. It will not be so when this war ends. It is stating only half the truth to saythat air transport costs are diminishing or that they have reached an economic level. At the present stage it is possibleto offer passenger fares below the cost of first-class rail and shipping fares. Within five "ears of the war's end air rateswill be comparable with third-class surface fares. Within ten years they may have dropped below them. "The second concerns the nature of commercial nir trans-port operations. Before the war British overseas air services were designed principally to supplement Commonwealth com-munications. Therefore the old Imperial Airways routes ran mainly to the south and south-east through territories thatwere primitive in their economy. The routes of prime im- portance to commercial operators are nearly all in the northernhemisphere, for commercial airlines have to seek traffic in volume. In other words, their object must be to provideservice to the greaiest possible number of people, leaving the question of Commonwealth communications to the Govern-ment or the instrument whi^h the Government created. The third point concerns Britain's place in the scheme olthings. "British air transport will flourish only so long as freedom of the air means freedom to apply the energy, experi-ence and imagination of aviation companies, in aviation for aviation's sake." Against the "Chosen Instrument" "Already there is vi.-.ible the greatest of all the disadvan-tages of the 'single chosen instrument' policy—the survey says—that is the monopoly of operation experience grantedto British Overseas Airways and resulting in a dearth of potential airline operators in Great Britain. The applicantsfor comprehensive rights: on foreign and domestic routes con- sist not of aviation companies ready and willing to face worldcompetition on any terms, but of shipowners and the railway companies, plus one out-and-out aviation company based onPrestwick. It is too late to attempt the segregation of trans- port industries on the American plan, so that British commer-cial aviation might glow to full stature under the most favour- able conditions But practical means are at hand to ensurethat in one area, at least, commercial air transport will be subject to the leadership and standards set by operators con-cerned only with aviation and who can therefore be trusted to develop air transport interests without regard for otherconsiderations." Coming down to earth, the survey says that Prestwick, withits unexampled weather record, is the ideal base for a regional airline plan to be integrated within a general British one.Prestwick—it is said—lias been for four years all that Lon- don hopes to make of Heathrow and New York ot IdlewildIt is also capable of infinite expansion as a base (or flying boats, no matter what size, for its seaway is the Firth of Clyde, Incidentally, early in 1943 the present Board oi ScottishAviation gave notice of intention to transfer to communal ownership their holding in the airport, either by conversion otthe airport undertaking to a public utility corporation or as the Government might advise. This transfer, the surveystates, awaits the conclusion of present negotiations between Scottish M.P.s, the Secretary for Scotland, the Minister o!Civil Aviation and the Secretary of State for Air. The airline plan based on Prestwick and advocated by thesurvey consists ol.— (1) Night Service to and from New York for sleeper passengers and first-class mail and freight. One stop will be made at Goose Bay (Labrador) orGander (Newfoundland) or other alternative airports. Air- craft will each have sleeping accommodation for twenty pas-sengers and will cany 2,200 lb of mail and freight. Passengers leaving Prestwick at 10 p.m. will reach New Yoikin time for breakfast. (2) Day Service to and from Canada and the United States(via Iceland and Goo&e Bay) for passengers and second-class mail and freight. Direct connection between Prestwick andthe European airline services at Paris, Amsterdam, Hamburg. Oslo and Stockholm. A Global Service The day service on the Northern route provides for thrpfstops en route at Iceland, Greenland and Goose Bay 01 Gandei. It will connect with the Canadian and U.S. internal airlinenetworks, thus facilitating ""apid transit to any destination in North America Aircraft will each accommodate 40 pas-sengers in addition to 0,000 lb. of mail and cargo. The rela- tively short stage:; on this route make it possible to offerattractive rate^ for many varieties of freight, and in respect of all Atlantic services Scottish Aviation have offered to under-take postal contracts without subsidy. The Continental shuttles are to connect with the airlineservices of Europe at Paris, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Oslo, and Stockholm. They will consist of 20-seat passenger aircraftand a fleet of aerial freighters. In this case also provision will be made from the beginning for the handling of trafficin volume and at rates likely to attract exporters and importers. A global route will be projected .iround the Northern hemi-sphere as equipment becomes available and operational experi- ence is obtained on the Atlantic services. . It will consist ofa main line serving Oslo, Stockholm, Leningrad, Moscow, Omsk, Pekin, Vladivostok, Fairbanks (Alaska), Vancouverand Chicago, and two Southern loops joining the main linf at Vladivostok. The loops provide services for (a) Ham-burg, Berlin, Odessa, .Baku, Teheran. Karachi, and (b) Amsterdam, Vienna, Belgrade, Istanbul. Cairo, Karachi, Cal-cutta, Hong Kong (with, ultimately, a -shuttle to Tokio), Pekin and Vladivostok. The Atlantic, European and internal services will be the firstto be established after Government sanction has been obtained. Scottish Aviation have satisfied themselves that attractivefares can be offered without subsidy. Initial tare tables pro- vide for service to New York for /80 return.For the purposes of Scottish planning, conversion of American aircraft to passenger requirement has been chosen"as the most timely, effective, and economic means of getting air commerce into the air and of ensuring the continuity otScottish aircraft manufacture." The survey admits tha* there are objections to such a course, but. it savs that there hno alternative, as " British aviation industry is largely with- out experience in the design and manufacture of commercialair carriers; the preliminary work required for getting out commercial types will occupy many months, possibly one or (Continued at fool of next page)
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