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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0549.PDF
I May 1953 545 JET AIRLINE ANNIVERSARY B.O.A.C."s Progress in Twelve Months of Comet Operations SINCE the afternoon of May 2nd, 1952, B.O.A.C. have been operating scheduled services with 36-seat de Havilland Comet Series 1 jet airliners. When, a few days before the historic departure for Johannesburg, Sir Miles Thomas formally announced the Corporation's plans for introducing the Comet, he referred to the occasion as one of "high promise and significance" and to the aircraft as a "superb product of British invention, enterprise and skill." Until a few months ago B.O.A.C. had remained the first and only operator of jet airliners and, in fulfilling the promise of those early days, the British airline has evoked the admiration of passengers and the envy of other companies throughout the world. Competitors in other countries, particularly those airlines which have not yet finally resolved to enter the jet-transport field, or those manufacturers whose designs are out-dated by the Comet, have subsequently implied that Britain's jet airliner is an un economical vehicle operated solely for reasons of national prestige. While freely admitting that the Series 1 version now in service can be used to best advantage only on certain carefully selected routes, B.O.A.C. can refute allegations that Comet services are run on a basis of subsidized experiment. In a firm reply to such criticisms, the Corporation states that: ". . . Comets, which have been operating with high load-factors, have made sufficient profit in the year to cover interest on capital. This is on a realistic costing basis, exactly as applied to all the Corporation's fleets, and includ ing the cost of route-proving and training spread proportionately over the life of the aircraft. On the routes on which B.O.A.C. have been operating Comets, connecting London with Johannesburg, Colombo, Singapore and Tokyo, an average load-factor of 75 per cent shows a profit." Figures below prove that this figure has, in fact, been handsomely exceeded. The Corporation's confidence in the Comet has been demon strated by the rapidity with which the scale of operations has expanded. The fleet of eight Series 1 aircraft are now flying eight long-distance return services a week, which means that Comets cover an average of 17,000 miles daily. As recounted elsewhere in this issue, the serviceability of the aircraft, despite their novelty, has been excellent. Including time spent on training "Flight" photograph FLASHBACK: Comets have now completed a year of scheduled passenger service with B.O.A.C. This photograph recalls the occasion of the first departure of G-ALYP to Johannesburg. and route-proving flights, the equivalent annual utilization per aircraft is approaching 2,000 hours—or nearly a million miles. Comets of B.O.A.C. are now operating along four routes; details of these services, together with a map, appear on page 547. The sequence in which these services were introduced, together with other main highlights in the Comet story to date, is as follows :— May 2nd, 1952.—Opening of original weekly return service between London and Johannesburg. May 15th, 1952.—Beginning of series of 18 development and training flights to Singapore. June 1st, 1952.—Frequency of Johannesburg service increased to three return flights weekly. August nth, 1952.—Opining of weekly return service between London and Colombo. October 14th, 1952.—Opening of weekly return service between London and Singapore. October 31st, 1952.—Frequency of Singapore service increased to two services weekly. February 8th, 1953.—B.O.A.C.'s first 10,000 hr of Comet flying completed. April 3rd, 1953.—Opening of weekly return service to Tokyo. April 13th, 1953.—Frequency of Tokyo service increased to two return services weekly. Delivery of the fleet of nine Series 1 Comets was completed on September 30th, 1952, when G-ALYZ was handed over to B.O.A.C. Unfonunately, this aircraft was damaged beyond repair Route Johannes burg Colombo Singapore Total (1) Total (2) RESULTS Inaugural date 2.5.52 11.8.52 14.10.52 — — Frequency 1 weekly, 3 weekly from 1.6.52 1 weekly 1 weekly, 2 weekly from 31.10.52 — — OF THE FIRST YEAR OF SCHEDULED No. of return flights 135 33 45± 213± 248i Revenue hours flown 4,775 1,103 2,038 7,916 9,450 Revenue miles flown 1,758,668 397,238 725,179 2,881,085 3,409,000 Revenue pass, miles flown 55,273,420 11,655,520 22,665,010 89,593,950 104,600.000 Revenue pass, carried 13,442 3,630 6,116 23,188 27.700 Freight, ex cess baggage and dipl. mail carried (short tons) 112 41 60 213 252 COMET SERVICES Mail carried (short tons) 207 23 78 308 365 Revenue pass, load- factor 88 81.9 87.3 86.9 86 Capacity short ton-miles available 9,652,291 2,134,361 3,972,071 15,758,723 18,572,000 Revenue short ton-miles flown 7,751,528 1,532,940 3,228,559 12,513,027 14,549,000 Overall load- factor 80.3 71.8 81.3 79.4 79 Total (1): Actual results achieved between the inauguration of Comet services on May 2nd, 1952, and March 31st, 1953. Total (2): As above, plus estimated results for the period April 1st-May 1st, 1953; these figures take into account traffic carried on the London-Tokyo service, which opened on April 3rd. Figures for scheduled services only are included in the table above; the consistently high load-factors achieved with Comets is of great significance. In addition, the Comet Fleet has performed some SO hr flying on contract, carrying 265 passengers over a total of 15,400 miles.
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