FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0343.PDF
13 March 1953 341 CIVIL AVIATION (Right) Two of Japan Air Lines' six Skymasters. NEWS FROM JAPAN JAPAN'S future civil-aviation policy was determined recently at a special Cabinet meeting, when an act was drafted for the establishment of a Japan Airways Corporation to operate ail inter national routes and the main domestic services. The Corporation was decided to be essential if Japan were to hold a competitive position relative to the national airlines of other countries (already n are operating into the country). The Government will supply half the capital of $5.6 m G£2m), the remainder being publicly invested. Other provisions of the proposed act are reported to be as follows: Senior executives will not be permitted to have other commercial interests without Government approval; selection of routes, senior appointments and distribution of profits will be subject to the approval of the Minister of Transportation; the Corporation will be required to present its report and accounts two months after the end of each financial year; the Government will appoint the members of the establishment committee respon sible for setting up the Corporation; provision shall be made for further public investment in the Corporation. A Japanese correspondent reports that the state airline will be set up in April and will begin operations two months later; he adds that the Government apparently intends, as far as possible, to leave the Corporation to manage its own affairs. Although smaller companies are expected to begin some regular and non-scheduled domestic services in the near future, Japan Air Lines have so far operated the only national services since the restoration of Japanese sovereignty—at first with DC-4S and Martin 2-O-2S leased from Northwest Airlines, but lately with its own Skymasters. It now seems certain that J.A.L. will be incorporated in the new state airline, although details of the merger have not yet been settled. The route network operated by J.A.L. is shown at the foot of this page. Traffic and financial statistics for scheduled operations during the calendar year 1952 are as follows:— Number of passengers flown . . . . 102,893 Revenue passenger-miles flown .. .. 42,895,480 Seat-miles available .. . . . . 55,747,284 Revenue passenger load-factor .. .. 76.9 per cent Revenue freight ton-miles (metric) .. 92,056 1 ,-ss/rx, yf ROUTE MILES SAPPORO —MISAWA 145 MISAWA —TOKYO 395 TOKYO — NACOYO , 238 NACOYO —OSAKA 90 TOKYO —OSAKA 287 OSAKA —IWAKUNI 191 IWAKUNI —FUKUOKA ItO OSAKA —FUKUOKA 291 rviSAP m ff if ,_».,. IWAKUNI -OSAKA NACOYA dTTOKYrt I Jff'j&r*>^' c Uf P A C 1 F = ORO AWA ^ \ 0 NIPPONESE NETWORK: Operating on these domestic routes, J.A.L. have a virtual monopoly of airline activity in Japan. As reported above, the company will probably be merged with a new State corporation, which is expected to be in operation by midsummer. Revenue mail ton-miles (metric) .. .. 74,986 Total revenue ton-miles (metric) . . 3,205,475 Overall load-factor . . .. . . 58.7 per cent Freight revenue (approx.) .. .. £26,000 Mail revenue (approx.) .. .. .. £34,000 No revenue figure for passenger operations has yet been pub lished. The total number of passenger-miles flown on non- scheduled services was 366,934. The J.A.L. fleet at present consists of six DC-4S or C-54S of various mark; these aircraft have been registered JA-6001-7 inclusive and named, respectively, Hakuba, Takachiho, Haruna, Tokachi, Aso and Hodaka, Last year the company announced an order for two Comet 2s, for delivery in 1955. Presumably the order will now be transferred to J.A.L.'s successor. RENFREW'S NEW TERMINAL THE Scottish division of the M.C.A. announces that a contract for the reinforced concrete structure of the new terminal building at Renfrew Airport, Glasgow, has been let and that work on the site has started. Contractors for this portion of the work are A. A. Stuart and Sons (Glasgow), Ltd., whose consulting civil engineers are Blyth and Blyth, Ltd., of Edinburgh. The building has been designed by Mr. W. H. Kininmonth, A.R.S.A., F.R.I.B.A., F.R.I.A.S., of the Edinburgh firm of Messrs. Rowand Anderson, Kininmonth and Paul. Mr. Kininmonth is also a Member of the Royal Fine Arts Commission for Scotland. Intended to be ready in time for the summer season of 1954, the new building is claimed to incorporate the latest ideas on the design of terminal facilities : ". . . Glass walls and cantilever con struction will make the interior of the building unusually spacious and well-hghted. A large dining gallery above the concourse will give visitors an extensive view of the airport and of the comings and goings of aircraft and their passengers on the apron. Covered ways extend to the extremities of the apron, giving shelter to passengers on their way to the aircraft ..." As at many North American airports (and, of course, as at railway stations), num bered gates will guide passengers to the correct portion of the apron. Passenger traffic at Renfrew increased from 140,000 in 1951 to 157,000 in 1952, and this trend is expected to continue. The buildings have accordingly been designed to permit of further expansion if necessary. As shown in the drawing overleaf, the building is technically interesting in that the roof of the main concourse, in cantilever construction, is suspended from a great arch in reinforced concrete, which forms the dominant feature of the front elevation. Cantilever construction has also been adopted for the new control tower. "SAFARI" FREQUENCY DOUBLED SINCE February 28th the frequency of the jointly operated Airwork/Hunting Safari Service to East Africa has been increased from one service weekly to two. Aircraft now leave this country on Saturdays and Tuesdays, and begin their return journey from Nairobi on Wednesdays and Saturdays. * It was announced recently that during the first six months of the Safari Service (inauguration was on June 14th last year), the Vikings of both companies had operated with 90 per cent of seats filled, and that forward bookings accounted for 83 per cent of capacity. The increase in frequency is therefore seen to be fully justified by an abnormally high demand. Airwork, Ltd., and Hunting Air Transport, Ltd., also announce the conclusion of an agreement with East African Airways Cor poration enabling passengers to book through tickets at low rates to Dar-es-Salaam, Mombasa, Kisumu. Lindi, Tanga, Zanzibar and Tabora. TWO I.C.A.O. MEETINGS DELEGATES from 13 nations and four international organ izations are now attending a special I.C.A.O. air-navigation conference in Montreal. Previous conferences have dealt with individual aspects of navigation; this is the first attempt by I.C.A.O. to examine and interrelate such problems as approach- and-landing aids (including possible means of achieving fully
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
