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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1462.PDF
70722 May 1959 Vickers Viscount 800s will be used by B.E.A. until de Havilland Comet 4Bs are introduced into service at about this time next year The frequency of two services per week each was decided notso much on the basis of detailed market research as on the prin- ciple that, even on the longer-haul routes, a frequency of once-per-week would be too little, giving neither good service nor reasonable profit. Twice-weekly was therefore agreed as the minimumfrequency for a start, to be increased by arrangement in accord- ance with demand. In theory, therefore, B.E.A. will be offering 116 Viscountseats a week each way between Moscow and London. (The Viscount 806 has 58 seats, 16 first-class and 42 tourist.) Inpractice—at least until operating experience is gained—the end- to-end load eastbound will suffer some limitation because of thelength of the Copenhagen - Moscow sector, which is 835 n.m. However, B.E.A. have in the Viscount 806 an aircraft which,although tailored to the Corporation's mainly short-haul routes, has sufficient flexibility to give excellent regularity on this longleg. With full tanks (1,938 Imp. gal) on departure from Copen- hagen there is a generous margin for diversions or contingenciesarising from unfamiliar rules and procedures—of which more in Part 2 of this article. There are, incidentally, no limitations on the 530 n.m. London -Copenhagen sector. B.E.A. will thus carry traffic booked for Copenhagen from London, and vice-versa. But the regularLondon - Copenhagen route is already well served by B.E.A., with up to a dozen services a week in the summer. Thereforemost passengers on the Moscow service will be through-passengers. Neither airline has Fifth Freedom rights at Copenhagen, i.e.,neither can uplift passengers there. Range of the TU-104A Though the Tu-104A has the range to operate a non-stopservice (London - Moscow is 1,375 n.m.), it can do so only with some limitation of payload. The Copenhagen stop was actuallyspecified by Aeroflot as well as by B.E.A.—who need it at least until Viscount 806s are replaced by Comet 4Bs. It remains to beseen whether or not, when the Comet 4Bs are ready for service 12 months hence, the intermediate Copenhagen stop will beeliminated. Certainly the Comet 4B should have the necessary payload-range performance for London - Moscow non-stop; andit will probably be to this route that B.E.A. will first allocate their Comets. Perhaps the first question that should be asked of any newB.E.A. service is: Will it make money? It would be quite misleading to suggest that the new Moscowservice is being operated by Britain's appointed European flag- carrier just for political reasons. In point of fact it is likely tomake money: B.E.A.'s commercial people appear to be optimistic about this. Two factors promise profitability: (1) The length of haul,which will yield a higher rate per mile than the rest of B.E.A.'s network, of which the average stage length is 230 n.m.; and(2) the non-seasonal nature of the route, compared with a peak- trough ratio of 2\ : 1 in the rest of B.E.A.'s system. Thus thenew service is, as an economic proposition, everything that the rest of B.E.A.'s system is not—medium-haul and non-seasonal. The fares from London are £142 4s first-class and £118 16stourist. These figures correspond to rates, respectively, of roughly Is and lOd per passenger-mile—compared with an average rate fordie rest of B.E.A.'s international system of about 7|d. The Moscow fare is at the highest international rate—though it is not higherthan for other one-stop routes out of London of comparable distance. Examples: — London - London - V = firs: B.E.A. Sector Athens Istanbul cl^ss. T = tourist StageLength (st. miles) 1,500 1,560 class. One-wayfare £74 5s£56 £79 9s£62 5s FT FT Kate!pass, mile (approx.) Is F9d T Is F9id T But it is more expensive than other international routes, forexample: — Hong Kong - Tokyo Sydney - Auckland Rio - Santiago Stockholm - Madrid 1,800 1,400 1,820 l,6C0 £70 £52£42 £35£57 3s j £51 9s£65 i £50 9s F TF TF TF T 9d 7d7.Id 6d7id 6^d 9Ad 7 id F TF TF TF T For the record, comparable revenue rates for three of the other European airlines serving Moscow (see map) are as follows: — Amsterdam - Moscow (K.L.M.) Brussels - Moscow (Sabena) .. Paris - Moscow (Air France) .. 1,335 1,390 1,580 £66£56 £67 £57£69 £58 19s 16s 18s 2s 12s 18s FT F TF T Is lOd Is lOd lid 9d FT F TF T None of the Moscow-route fares is, of course, determined byI.A.T.A., an organization to which Aeroflot does not subscribe. All tariffs are determined by negotiation between the two partiesconcerned. An interesting point which emerges is that the rate for flyingto Moscow is about the same by whichever of the European airlines one chooses to fly (though Air France is a penny cheaperthan the others). All the Continental airlines, unlike B.E.A., fly non-stop; but B.E.A. do not appear to be passing on to the pas-senger the cost of the obligatory stop at Copenhagen. Thus (so the argument might run) the B.E.A. service gives the best value—particularly as a visit to the tax-free shop at Copenhagen is possible en route. Not only does the revenue side of the picture look promising;so does the side concerned with cost. Though B.E.A. are adding a new station to their network—a costly business at the best oftimes—Moscow station-costs should not be high. No elaborate sales or advertising campaigns are needed, because in Moscow(as we hope to show in Part 2), where Western principles of commerce do not apply, you do as the Muscovites do. So far as staff are concerned, the agreement provides for asmany British personnel as are necessary to be stationed in Moscow; but it is probable that only three permanent British staff—themanager, Mr. M. S. Brander, his Russian-speaking British assist- ant, and an engineer, Mr. Ken Clarke—will be necessary to lookafter the Corporation's interests. Traffic handling is done by Aeroflot, and no slip-crews are required. [Continued overleaf
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