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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0439.PDF
fLIGHT, 1 April 1960 439 INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT Overseas Aviation's Sixfold Expansion in Two Years "Flight" photograph STARTING operations exactly two years ago with a fleet ofthree Vikings, Overseas Aviation (Channel Islands) Ltd nowoperate five 36-seat Vikings, nine ex-BOAC 65-seat DC-4M Argonauts, and a Dove. This sort of expansion—a 600 per cent increase in capacity intwo years—is probably unparalleled in UK airline history. It certainly does not seem compatible with the frequently voiced UKindependent airline complaint about limited opportunities. Undoubtedly the most remarkable aspect of the company is, asimplied by the name, its international diversification. Overseas Aviation is one of 38 companies in the Overseas Group,which has grown out of a small car distributing and insurance agency launched in Germany in 1949 by Ronald Myhill, an ex-RAF pilot. He and B. A. Dromgoole formed Overseas Aviation in January 1958. Both these men are British, and their co-directorsare Capt P. de Vere Stevens, technical director, and Capt B. D. Ludbey, chief pilot—both Australians. It is to Ronald Myhill and Bernard Dromgoole that the Germanindependent operator Lufttransport Union, LTU, owes its origins . Flight, July 20,1956, page 111). They founded LTU in February1955, initially to carry on business as brokers and handling agents for BKS and Transair—Mr Dromgoole having previously beenEuropean manager of BKS. Total work-force of Overseas Aviation now amounts to 187employees, including 23 captains and 22 first officers, and stewardesses of various nationalities. Staff, say Overseas, "willsoon have to be increased in all departments." Total turnover of the aviation companies in the Overseas Group was more than. £lm in 1959 and "we expect to pass the £2m mark in 1960." Overseas Aviation are registered in the Channel Islands, likesome of the other companies in the Overseas group. This arrange- ment has been found to enable, among other things, contracts tobe clinched more readily. The company's main engineering and operating base is atSouthend, but a complete transfer to Gatwick will start this month. The move should be completed in September. A new£300,000 hangar is now going up at Gatwick; of Scandinavian design, it is unusual in that it is of wooden construction, theargument being that the risk of fire damage to aircraft is no greater than, and is probably less than, with a metal hangar. The story of Overseas' efforts to move to Gatwick is, incident-ally, difficult to reconcile with the Ministry's stated policy of encouraging operators to move to this expensive, and still sadlyunder-utilized, new London airport. Overseas applied to the Ministry in June 1958 for permission to build a maintenancehangar there. It took 11 months and finally a strong letter to the Minister himself to obtain the approval, which was ultimatelygranted on June 3, 1959. It then took a further six months to conclude the lease, although the general terms had been decidedwithin a few weeks of the approval. These delays prevented Overseas from having their hangar this winter, and they claimthat the delay has cost them about £50,000 in respect of major maintenance contracted to other companies. Overseas' main activities are inclusive tours, both from the UK and from the continent of Europe, and charter and contract workto the Far East, Australia and South Africa. Their brokers on the Baltic are Lambert Brothers. One of Overseas' five Vikings isbased at Manchester with the northern division, and it operates charter and contract work from that airport, and from time to timefrom Liverpool. An important associated company is Trans-Africa Air Coach—Overseas TAAC—well known in South Africa for the very-low- fare Argonaut services operated from Luxembourg to LourencoMarques in Portuguese East Africa. The use of these two ter- minating countries avoids political complications as regards trafficrights. As Flight learnt during a recent visit to Africa, the estab- lished carriers between the UK and South Africa, particularlySAA, regard the Overseas TAAC operation as causing material diversion. Overseas reply to this by saying that material diversion,if any, would be caused more by the greater-frequency Trek Airways coach service (whose operation was described in Flightfor March 4, 1960). We remain neutral pending a definition of the words material diversion. The Overseas TAAC servicefrequency is low, being only monthly, but a monthly service available directly to the public would contravene the Air Corpora-tions Act were it operated from UK territory. This is why Luxembourg is the terminal. The Trans-Africa Air Coach service has certainly provedpopular—particularly among South Africans, in whose country the main sales effort is made. The fare is £75 or £90 one way,depending on the season. This includes transport between Portu- guese East Africa and South Africa, and between Luxembourgand the UK. The comparable IATA tourist ticket between the UK and South Africa costs £152, so the reduction amounts toabout 40 to 50 per cent. This is "VLF" actually in operation. By agreement with the Portuguese authorities (presumably inreturn for the traffic rights at Lourenco Marques) a 48-hour double night-stop is made at Lisbon on the north-bound flight. AllTrans-Africa Air Coach flights are operated with 65-seat Argonauts bearing the name "Overseas TAAC." In addition to the Trans-Africa Air Coach operation, but havingno connection with it, is an Argonaut service operated at a frequency of ten flights per year from Southend to LourencoMarques. These are "closed group" operations operated on behalf of the Overseas Visitors Club, a private organization which hasrecently opened new premises in London, with accommodation for more than 200, and with a bar, ballroom and other recreationalfacilities. (A £250,000 contract with SAA for VLF flights between the Union and the UK has, incidentally, just been signed by theOverseas Visitors Club—see Flight, March 11.) The initials TAAC are registered in two other ways: they standalso for Trans-Australia Air Coach and Trans-Atlantic Air Coach. It can therefore be assumed that Overseas are hoping to be able toarrange very low fare services (possibly with DC-6As or -Bs) to the destinations implied in these two other names on a basissimilar to the Luxembourg - Lourenco Marques operation. The French have already granted Overseas rights to operate intoNoumea in New Caledonia. This is about 900 miles from Sydney, with which city connecting flights, - with the French independent TAI could no doubt be arranged. Butthere has been such strong opposi- tion from the Australian Governmentthat it has so far been found impos- sible to operate a feeder-service fromNew Caledonia to Australia. Over- seas feel that there would be a tre-mendous demand for a VLF service to and from Australia if only theattitude of the Australian Govern- Overseas' first Argonaut, G-ALHT, has been sold to the new Danish operator Flying Enterprise. Above, an Overseas Argonaut is seen at Hong Kong
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