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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1669.PDF
FLIGHT 18 December 1953 823 l-DIMA is the registration of this handsomely fin ished DC-6B, the first < f four ordered by Alitalia. This Italian airline has now received two of its new Douglas transports; delivery dates for the others are January 2nd and February 3rd. On Monday next the type is due to enter service on the Rome-Buenos Aires route, taking over from the non-pressurized D C-4. CIVIL AVIATION . MORE PASSENGERS FOR SWISSAIR AMONG the many airlines reporting encouraging traffic figures, ** largely as a result of the introduction of tourist fares in Europe, is Swissair. During the first nine months of this year the company carried 297,502 passengers, over 5,000 more than in the whole of 1952. Swissair observe that although tourist-class fares are a third below normal rates, the company's revenue has increased by nearly one-third over the same period. The third quarter of 1953 seems to have been a particularly profitable period; during these three months Swissair carried 160,675 passengers compared with 102,317 during the third quarter of 1952. Freight and mail traffic also increased, though not to the same spectaculai extent. The "average utilization degree in the regular flight traffic" (which is presumably Swissair's way of saying "overall load- factor") was 76.2 per cent for the third quarter of 1953, compared with 72.6 per cent for the corresponding period last year. TOURIST SERVICES DEFINED T"\ETAILS were given in last week's issue of the increases -*-' and decreases to the standard fares charged for travel on the routes of I.A.T.A. airlines. In addition to fixing a total of 30,000 rates and fares, the I.A.T.A. traffic conference, held in Honolulu last month, also defined the respective standards of service which can be offered on first-class and tourist-class flights. Minimum seating densities were prescribed for all the major types of aircraft used by I.A.T.A. carriers; 21 types are covered, ranging in size from the DC-3 (21 seats) to the Breguet Deux-Ponts (107 seats). The idea of the two-class airliner is now well established and fifteen of the 70 member airlines will be operating services with such aircraft during 1954. To prevent possible abuse of this system, other airlines insisted upon a resolution specifying "complete and effective separation" of the two classes. The conference also decided on world-wide standard baggage allowances—44 lb for tourist and 66 lb for first-class passengers on all journeys, with excess baggage carried at 1 per cent of the adult single fare. No alcohol will be sold or served on tourist aircraft in the Western Hemisphere or across the Pacific, and elsewhere it will be sold only at fixed minimum prices: e.g., the minimum charge for "two ounces of hard liquor" will be 2s. Other resolutions fixed the number of cabin attendants who may be carried on tourist services, and the value of "give aways," which may not exceed Is 9d per passenger. PREMIER'S PDLOT THE second notable journey by B.O.A.C. Stratocruiser Canopus within a month ended at 1133 hr on December 11th, when Sir Winston Churchill and Mr. Anthony Eden returned from Bermuda; also aboard for the return journey was M. Laniel, the French Prime Minister. In com mand on the Premier's flight was Capt. James Percy, who has made over 270 crossings of the North Atlantic. He began his career as a ground engineer with Imperial Airways 24 years ago; after training privately as a pilot he began flying for Imperial Airways in 1932, becoming a captain two years later. PREMIER'S CREW: The B.O.A.C. Stratocruiser which carried Sir Winston Churchill to and from Bermuda was manned by (right to left): Capt. J. Percy, Capt. J. Nicholl, UtjOff. S. A. Brook, NavlOff. W. Richardson, R/Off. C. L Cheesman, Eng/Off. D. Buck, EngjOff. J. L Perry and Stewards J. Bury, J. E. H. Smith and D. Robb; the other member was Stewardess E. Hunter. MORE SCANDIAS FOR S.A.S. "COR use mainly on the airline's domestic services, two more -*- Saab Scandias have been ordered by Scandinavian Airlines System. The additional aircraft, which are part of a number being built under licence by Fokkers in Holland, will increase the S.A.S. fleet of Scandias from six to eight aircraft. Four more of these 32/40-seat twins have been ordered by the Brazilian airline VASP, which is already operating six on the Rio/SaoPaulo/Curitiba and Rio/Porto Alegre routes. Since their introduction into service early in 1951, Scandias are stated to have completed without accident some 40,000 flying hours and 10m passenger-miles. B.E.A. PROFIT DOWN "TVESPITE the impressive results achieved with both Viscount -•-'and Elizabethan during the past summer, B.E.A.'s accounts for the first half of the current financial year show that clear profit (£260,000) earned during this peak traffic period is just over £50,000 less than for the corresponding months of 1952. Operating profit for the April-September period was £569,000, which is £103,000 better than the figure in the first half of the preceding financial year. B.E.A. state that heavy interest charges (totalling £309,000) on the new aircraft are responsible for the reduced surplus. Since the Corporation has yet to face the "winter trough" it seems unlikely that mere will be any reduction in deficit for the 1953-54 financial year. Traffic figures for the first six months show a 27 per cent increase in revenue ton-miles flown; lower fares were charged, however, and the corresponding gain in revenue was 15 per cent. SABENA'S HELICOPTERS IN a preliminary report on experience gained during the first three months of their pioneering international helicopter net work, Sabena announce that the three Sikorsky S-55s carried 3,094 passengers between September 1st and November 30th. These seven-seat rotorplanes are at present providing twice- daily services on the Brussels-Antwerp-Rotterdam route and daily services from the Belgian capital to Liege, Maastricht, Cologne, Bonn and Lille. The intermediate stops generally last three minutes. Most of the passengers filled in questionnaires asking their views on the value and quality of the service. They appear to have been divided fairly evenly into two classes—transit passengers on their way to pick up air connections at Mels- broek of Deurne, and local travellers making their way from
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