FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1952
1952 - 1729.PDF
CIVIL AVIATION B.E.A. IN MAY T\ESPITE the fuel restrictions, which halved B.E.A.'s services •" towards the end of May, there was a 10 per cent increase in the total number of passengers carried (106,700) compared with May, 1951. The petrol shortage had a less serious effect on the domestic routes which, in any case, are unharmed by the reduction in the travel allowance, and the internal services actually showed an increase of nearly 20 per cent (the number of passengers carried was 44,300 compared with 37,100 in May last year); but the international services showed an increase of less than 6 per cent, carrying 62,400 passengers—3,300 more than in May, 1951. MORE K.L.M. FLIGHTS TO AUSTRALIA AS part of a plan to increase the number of Dutch emigrants • flown to Australia, K.L.M. is to operate thrice-weekly emi grant flights to Perth in 1953. Two of the services, which are additional to the weekly K.L.M. flight to Sydney, will be extended as far as New Zealand. The new services will be operated by Lockheed 1049C Super Constellations. K.L.M. has ten of these compound-engined airliners on order, and had hoped for delivery of the first during the coming autumn; Lockheed, however, now forecast "early 1953." SUCCESS OF NEW ATLANTIC SERVICES COMMENTS on the success of the new low-fare transatlantic services have already been made by executives of two airlines. Speaking in Vienna last week, Mr. H. R. Harris, vice-president in charge of PanAm's Atlantic division, said that the introduction of the new fares had proved "much more important than any of us had realized." In April and May, 1951, he said, the average number of passengers flown from New York to Europe by all carriers was just over 2,400 weekly; now the average was 4,800, of whom half flew on first-class services. Similar feelings were expressed by Sir Miles Thomas, chairman of B.O.A.C., when he returned to London after a week-end trip to New York: "There is no doubt about the success of our trans atlantic business today. In the two years 1950-51 we [B.O.A.C.] increased passenger-carryings by 169 per cent. Forward bookings as at today from New York are 97 per cent higher than this time last year; even in May, when petrol cuts were imposed, we carried 2,684 travellers, as against 1,711 in the same month of the previous year." He added that the cheaper Mayflower service must have tapped entirely new markets, for the first-class services were attracting more business—most of it dollar-worthy—than before. Sir Miles had a word to say on American reaction to B.O.A.C.'s introduction of the Comet. American manufacturers and operators now realize, without rancour but with envy, that Britain had a solid lead of four years in this field of jet propulsion. Nevertheless, he said, it was a sobering thought that seven years after the war there did not exist a British airliner which could show economic operations on the North Atlantic. It would be two years before the urgently needed Britannia and Avon-Comet were available, and we should be hard-pressed to bridge the gap. INTERNATIONAL PILOTS' MEETING AT the annual conference of the International Federation of - Airline Pilots, held recently at Sydney, it was pointed out by Capt. T. H. Farnsworth of B.O.A.C. that minimum runway lengths required by I.C.A.O. for certain regions—those, for example, where temperature reached 100 deg F and humidity was 80 per cent—fell short of desirable standards by some 17 per cent. The conference resolved to refer the matter to I.C.A.O. Delegates decided that weather forecasts from ships should be passed direct to aircraft, and should be accepted on the same basis as those from land stations; it was also felt that weather reporting should be speeded up and that governments should devote more funds to the support of meteorological stations. It was decided to press for the introduction of airborne radar—both for detection of turbulent areas and congestion of air lanes at the busier airports, an especially critical problem for jet transports. The conference was attended by 24 delegates from 19 different countries. Capt. C. Sayen (U.S.) was elected president of I.F.A.P., with Mr. D. Fellows, secretary of B.A.L.P.A., as federation secretary. Chicago will be the venue of next year's conference. SCOTTISH AVIATION'S Prestwick Pioneer II last week visited the small islands of Mull and lona to demonstrate the efficacy of suitable fixed-wing aircraft on remote routes lacking proper airfields. Mr. N. J. Capper, the company's chief test pilot, landed and took-offthe aircraft in less than 100 yards. He was accompanied by Mr. D. F. Mclntyre, managing director of Scottish Aviation, whose projected twin-engined, 16-passenger Pioneer III promises to be very suitable for the Highland and Island routes. The aircraft was demonstrated at the R.Ae.S. Garden Party (see pages 732-733).
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
