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Aviation History
1958
1958 - 0704.PDF
720 FLIGHT, 23 May 1958 Brussels Heliport in the morning. Sabena's Vertol 44 is about to taxi to take-off point on the morning service to Lille. Note the international Fair symbol on the forward fuselage. CIVIL AVIATION THE MOST IMPORTANT ROUTE NO route carries more air traffic than that linking NorthAmerica and Europe. Last year just over one millionpassengers were flown across the North Atlantic, a total only fractionally less than that carried by the shipping lines. Thismovement represents 8 per cent of global air traffic, or 15 per cent if internal U.S. traffic is excluded. The importance of theroute to European airlines is shown by the fact that their share of North Atlantic traffic amounted to one-fifth of the total trafficcarried by all European carriers, and one-third of that lifted by the eleven European carriers which fly the North Atlantic. In value terms, airlines probably received total revenues ofabout £110m ($310m) on last year's North Atlantic operations. This was split evenly between the five North American operatorson the one hand (three U.S., two Canadian) and eleven European airlines (including one non-I.A.T.A. member) on the other. Thehard currency earned by the latter group was almost certainly in excess of $100m. The number of passengers travelling on scheduled servicesreached 1,013,000, an increase of 23 per cent over the 1956 figure. Except for 1952—when traffic rose by 30 per cent with the intro-duction of tourist-class services—no year has ever shown such a sharp rate of growth. The main factor behind last year's experi-ence was the cheap westbound emigrant fare which had come into effect in the last months of 1956. This was evident from thefact that westbound traffic in the first six months of last year increased by 53 per cent over that for the corresponding periodin 1956, and also from a rise in the gap between annual westbound and eastbound traffic from about 30,000 passengers in the yearsbefore 1956 to 115,000 in 1957. Although the stimulus of emigrant fares pushed up the annualvolume of tourist-class traffic by 29 per cent, first-class traffic continued the trend set in recent years by an increase of 9 per cent.First- and tourist-class traffic moved in the proportion 1:3. Another continuing trend was the increasing importance ofmixed-class travel. The number of first-class flights was cut sharply from 4,050 in 1956 to 3,121 in 1957, continuing the downwardtrend set since reaching a peak of 10,685 in 1951. Tourist-class flights reached a peak of 7,628 in 1954 and have since fallen steadilyto 6,999 last year. The number of mixed-class services, by con- trast, has increased rapidly since their introduction in 1952, andlast year reached 14,203. With the single exception of 1952 (when the volume of newlycreated tourist traffic ran ahead of available capacity) last year's load factors were the best ever experienced. The overall averagefor 1957 stood at 67 per cent, the eastbound load factor being 59 per cent (a typical figure for recent years), but the westboundfactor reached the remarkable figure of 74 per cent. Taking load factors for each separate class of traffic, the eastbound factor was59 per cent in each case. Westbound factors were higher, with first-class traffic showing '63 per cent, and tourist-class reaching anunprecedented 78 per cent. These averages conceal wide differences between individual air-lines. T.C.A. has, in recent years, continued to show the highest load factors of any North Atlantic airline. This carrier has achievedan average between 75 and 80 per cent for each of the last six years: no other airline has reached 75 per cent in any one year.B.O.A.C., Air France and Swissair each experienced load factors slightly over 70 per cent, B.O.A.C.'s performance in particularbeing an improvement over previous years. Most carriers lay in the 65-70 per cent category. In the past, particularly poor load factorshave consistently been shown by four operators—El Al, Iberia, L.A.I, (now Alitalia), and Sabena. El Al and Sabena improved theirposition last year, reaching 59 and 61 per cent respectively, but Iberia and L.A.I, were still selling less than half their seats. If there is a general rule, it is that the lower the frequency thelower the load factor, particularly if there is little access to emigrant traffic.In carrying over a quarter of a million passengers across the North Atlantic last year, Pan American continued to hold theirplace as major airline on this route. Their share of total traffic reached a peak of 28 per cent in 1955, but has since declinedto 26 per cent. T.W.A. obtained 21 per cent of traffic in 1954, but its share has since fallen rapidly each year, droppingdown to 15 per cent last year. B.O.A.C. carried its largest share in 1953 (15 per cent) but the following year its traffic fell sharplyand has subsequently remained at a steady 11 per cent. Since 1950 PanAm, T.W.A. and B.O.A.C. have held the top threeplaces across the North Atlantic, and together account for just over one-half the total traffic. (This share has fallen steadily fromtwo-thirds prior to the introduction of tourist-class fares.) Fol- lowing these leaders come three other carriers—S.A.S., K.L.M.and Air France—that are constantly jostling for position but which together account for a steady quarter of North Atlantictraffic. K.L.M. has since 1950 headed this group, but was last year overtaken by S.A.S., each carrying 9 per cent. Air Francehas in recent years carried a steady 8 per cent. The remaining smaller carriers have been steadily increasingtheir share, not apparently at the expense of S.A.S., K.L.M. and Air France, but to the detriment of the three leaders. Thisincrease has not come from a growth in the proportion of traffic carried by the three carriers originally constituting this group—T.C.A., Sabena and Swissair have respectively carried 5, 4 and 3 per cent for a number of years—but from the entrance ofnew airlines to the North Atlantic. Lufthansa, Loftleidir and Canadian Pacific are the fastest-growing of these (respectivelycarrying 4, 3 and 2 per cent of traffic last year), while Alitalia/ L.A.I., El Al and Iberia have remained fairly static, each carry-ing about 1 per cent. The sixteenth scheduled North Atlantic Now touring South America is this Fokker Friendship, seen taking off from Schiphol fitted for the first time with its new pylon fuel tanks.
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