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Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1234.PDF
542 FLIGHT, 2 May 1952 CIVIL AVIATION BI-LATERAL : Scots pipers were waiting at Turn- house, Edinburgh, to welcome DC-3 "St. Colmcille" on April 20th when it inaugurated the new Aer Lingus service from Dublin. A new Dublin-Cardiff service began the same day. B.O.A.C.'s PROFIT S IR MILES THOMAS revealed on April 23rd that the operating profit made by B.O.A.C. during the financial year which ended on March 31st was over £250,000. The Corporation's first profit, he said, had come about through "hard, aggressively fought busi ness"; a good deal of it was dollar revenue. Sir Miles said that by balancing its figures "on the door-step of the jet-age" B.O.A.C. had given a great tonic to its staff and aircrews. He hoped that the Comet service to Johannesburg, due to start today, would be ex tended to Singapore about July. INDEPENDENT'S BETTER PROSPECTS I N its review* of associate services flown by independent operators during 1951, the Air Transport Advisory Council concludes that although the scope of such services is limited under the present arrangements, thev have been "of considerable benefit to the public in that they have carried 91,000 passengers, the greater number of whom would not have been catered for by the Airways Corporations." On the basis of the past year's experience, how ever, A.T.A.C. feels that the independent companies will require longer tenures of agreement and better opportunities of operating on an economic basis before they will seek an increase in the num ber of their scheduled services. Such opportunities have, in fact, been promised by the Minister of Civil Aviation. The Minister, Mr. John Maclay, states in a foreword to the A.T.A.C. report: "The review of civil air service policy which I am now undertaking has among its objectives increased oppor tunities for independent companies. ... In the meantime, and in order to allow time for policy to be formulated, I have asked the Council to continue to consider applications in accordance with my predecessor's directive, but to limit all new agreements to one year." He also endorses the Council's recommendation that the number of documents and other formalities imposed on air passengers should be reduced to the minimum. As in previous years, the Council devoted most of its time during 1951 to considering and making recommendations on applications to operate scheduled services in association with one or other of the Corporations. The total of such applications was 149, of which 117 (100 scheduled services and 17 inclusive tours) were recom- * The Fourth Report of the Air Transport Advisory Council, by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Price gd. Published mended for approval—44 for five years, 1$ for two years and 57 for one year or less. The reasons for rejecting the 32 unsuccessful applications were normally one or more of the following: (i) the proposed service was competitive with B.E.A.'s actual or planned service; (ii) the applicant was not considered satisfactory for the route; (iii) the route had already been allocated to another com pany; (iv) the service would, contrary to bi-lateral agreement, have encroached on the routes of Aer Lingus. Noting that the Minister of Civil Aviation accepted all its recom mendations, the Council expresses concern that out of 111 services finally approved only 42 were eventually operated. Although there were a number of contributory reasons, notably the severe short age of aircrews and aircraft in 1951, the main single reason for with drawals was that in the case of a number of applications (particu larly those submitted by the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation and Scottish Airlines) only a part of the network or routes applied for could be recommended. The Council's report adds that as the character of the services thus curtailed (due to possible confliction with B.E.A. services), was to a considerable extent changed, it was not, perhaps, surprising that the companies found the modified arrangement unattractive. Examples of such routes were those between London and Manchester, Leeds, Blackpool, Liverpool, Newcastle and Land's End, which the Lancashire Aircraft Cor poration had applied to operate. The council felt unable, however, to recommend all the routes for the full five-year period stipulated by L.A.C., which eventually withdrew its application—although operation of these routes became a matter of urgency by July, 1951. A need also arose during the year for associate services to supple ment B.E.A.'s scheduled flight on the Channel Islands routes. Although an additional 2,250 passengers were carried to the Channel Islands by peak-period associate services, some of the companies which applied to work on these routes were unable to undertake all the proposed services. The council expresses con cern with certain of B.E.A.'s booking arrangements for their Chan nel Islands services and also with the "ineffective procedure" for referring intending passengers to the associate companies when the Corporation's services were fully booked. Referring to the increase of 25,000 on the total of 66,000 pas sengers carried during 1950, the A.T.A.C. report states that it was due mainly to the success of the Silver City Airways' ferry between Lympne and Le Touquet, which carried over 8,500 cars and 30,000 passengers during 1951. Nearly half the total traffic on associate services was on international routes. The other outstanding contribution was made by Aquila Airways* with its service from Southampton to Madeira. The number of passengers carried by associate services to the Isle of Man decreased to 24,000 from 45,000 in 1950; this was due largely to the fact that B.E.A. took over the Manchester- Isle of Man route last year. Passengers carried to the Channel Islands by associate companies totalled 14,000—nearly twice the 1950 figure. On the few associate services on cross-country and ferry routes within the U.K. the number of passengers was only 10,628, of whom some 6,000 were carried by Scottish Airlines between Prestwick and BRIGHT AND SPACIOUS: The Brazilian claim that Qaleao Airport, Rio de Janeiro, is one of the most modern in the world seems fully borne out by this photograph. The new reception and administration buildings, completed within six months, match the spectacular post-war expansion of civil aviation in Brazil.
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