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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0997.PDF
31 July 1953 151 CIVIL AVIATION JAPANESE PLANS ANNOUNCED A MBITIOUS plans for extending their routes and augmenting tT their present fleet of six DC-4s are announced by Japan Ak Lines. The DC-4s are at present used on two mam domestic routes—one running north from Tokyo via Misawa to Sapporo the other linking the capital with Nagoya, Osako, Iwakuni and Fukuoka to the south-west. Three Heron feederliners will enter service this autumn and mail-only night services, operated by three Beechcrafts, will also be inaugurated shortly. The first international services will begin on November 1st—to San Francisco via Wake Island and Hono lulu; these and other long-range services will be operated by DC-6Bs, seven of which are on order. The San Francisco route will later be extended to Los Angeles, Mexico City, Panama, Lima, Rio and Sao Paulo. Other routes envisaged will link Tokyo with Seattle (via the Aleutians and Alaska), Manila, Saigon, Singapore and Djakarta . Two Comet 2s have been ordered for the Tokyo- London route, by way of India and the Near East, which is due to be opened in 1955. The company has also referred to a possible Tokyo-London service via the Northern route. An American airline expert, Mr. Mai Freeburg, is acting as consultant to J.A.L. in the planning of their new overseas net work. He had previously been associated with J.A.L. through Northwest Airlines, which chartered Martin 2-0-2s to the Japanese company when it was formed in 1951, and, more recently, through Transocean Airlines, which supplies J.AL. widi crews. Although a nationalization bill is now before the Japanese Diet, the management of J.A.L. expect to retain 50 per cent of the capital in the new overseas corporation. They have been authorized to plan the corporation's activities and to announce that operations will continue under die name of Japan Air Lines. In the year ended March 31st, J.A.L. carried 110,785 passengers and 459 tons of mail and freight. CHOOSING THE SOUTHERN ALTERNATIVE A S reported on page 136, several sites were considered as the **- possible southern alternative to London Airport before Gatwick was finally selected. The three other main candidates were Blackbushe, Dunsfold and Stansted. The main objections to Blackbushe were its proximity to Farnborough and the fact that in the prevailing westerly winds its traffic pattern would conflict with that of London Airport. Dunsfold's "access to London is markedly inferior," and although it could be developed at slightly less expense than Gatwick, it is required for test-flying (by Hawker's) and for military purposes. Like Bovingdon, Stansted is on the wrong side of London, and is 1J-2 hr by road or rail from the capital. Biggin Hill and West Mailing are needed by the R.A.F., and Croydon and Fairlop are in heavily built-up areas. AER LINGUS DEFICIT MAJOR reasons for the £86,000 loss incurred by Aer Lingus in the financial year ended March 31st were increased salary and wage costs, the 1952 fuel shortage and the severe foggy spell early this year. The airline's revenue went up by seven per cent, (by £110,000 to £1,737,000) during the year under review, but this was more than offset by a 17 per cent rise in expenditure. The deficit will be carried forward with a view to recoupment out of future profits. Over the financial year 1951-52 Aer Lingus made a profit of £92,000. Aer Lingus carried 290,000 passengers during the year at a load factor of almost 70 per cent. Aer Rianta, which adminis ters Dublin Airport, made a £25,000 profit. The number of passengers using the airport went up by 8 per cent to 302,000, and the number of aircraft movements, which totalled 24,055, increased by 20 per cent. BRITISH AIRLINES IN 1952-53 PROVISIONAL figures published by the M.C.A. show the -*- extent to which British airline traffic increased during the financial year ended March 31st, 1953. Expressed in ton-miles available, traffic increased by 12 per cent compared with 28 per cent in 1951-52. The following factors contributed to this decline in the rate of growth: the fuel strike, political disturbances (especially in the Middle East), reduced foreign-currency allowances and " unfavourable conditions affecting freight traffic." The full effect of these restrictions will not be known until the Corporation's annual reports are published. Although there were marked increases in passenger traffic, and this is the main source of revenue, it does not necessarily follow that the Corporations will show improved financial results. Reduced ("tourist") fares were responsible for much of the extra B.O.A.C. traffic, and, due partly to the low currency- allowance, B.E.A. domestic services carried many of the passengers who might otherwise have flown abroad. Both freight and mail figures are disappointing, particularly the former. Provisional traffic figures for both State-owned and independent operators are summarized below. Percentage increases (or decreases) over the 1951-52 results are shown in parentheses. Passengers carried Freight (short tons) Mail (short tons) ... Capacity ton-miles Load ton-miles Overall load factor Passenger-miles ... Pass, load-factor* B.O.A.C. 275,000(12.7) 6,000(—1.9) 3,000(5.9) 203,293,000(8.9) 131,247,000(7.0) 64.6(65.7) 867,346,000(12.2) 63.7(63.9) B.E.A. 1,400,000(23.3) 16.000(12.2) 6,000(—2.9) 68,680,000(21.7) 42,994,000(18.1) 62.6(64.5) 372,966,000(20.6) 64.5(66.9) Associates 97,000(70) 16,000(—15.9) 20(59.7) 5,399,000(50.9) 3,547,000(71.2) 65.7(57.9) 27,748,000(132.4) 68.7(58.8) * Figures in parenthesis are actual 1951-52 load-factors. DUTCH HELICOPTER ACTIVITY THE rescue operations during the floods of last February, in which 38 helicopters from six countries took part, saving over 2,00c people, greatly stimulated Dutch interest in the helicop ter as a means of transport. It seems possible that the number of rotorplanes used will increase in the near future; K.L.M. is studying the development of suitable types for passenger use, and is con sulting with Sabena in a study of the Belgian airline's own scheduled helicopter operations. The cities of The Hague and Utrecht are 'also planning the construction of helicopter landing sites in the city centres and—in addition to K.L.M.—the Dutch EXFCUTIVF FIFFT- Hrlllwplk Ltd the aircraft design, repair and manufacturing firm, a subsidiary of Tube Investments Ltd., use K^tti^^VJ companies. The fleet is pictured at Mfrrift mam base, Walsall A,r Part.
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