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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 2441.PDF
PLIGHT, 28 October 1960 6831 Introduced by BEA in the domestic flights department at London /import is this aluminium and Perspex conveyor for transferring tickets and documents to the flight control desk. It was constructed by the John Thompson Conveyor Company of Wolverhampton stipulating six return services a day and the eventual use of a newKpe of aircraft with a capacity for perhaps five cars, show much r': "eater emphasis than hitherto on this type of operation.r Silver City have no comment to make about the references in tueir application to the Breguet Deux Ponts. The appearance of;: particular type in a licence application is not, of course, a guarantee of intention to operate. What can be seen from thesetriplications is apparently only part of a plan which lies—like an iceberg—five-sixths submerged beneath the surface. All that isdear is that Silver City are anxious not to give the impression that this particular French aircraft is an irrevocable part of their equip-ment plans—plans that have been in a state of flux ever since negotiations for a £5m investment in Silver City by BritishRailways fell through in the spring. Now there are signs that Britain's second-largest independent is on the verge of springinga big surprise. Both operators have recorded substantial increases in the trafficcarried over their present short-range routes as is shown in the traffic figures below for the year ended September 30. Year ended September 30 Services operated Passengers carried Vehicles carried Freight tons carried ("Silver City \ Channel Air Bridge Silver City Channel Air Bridge Silver City Channel Air Bridge Silver City Channel Air Bridge t959-60 40,00016,124 220,000* 151,322 90,33226,435 45,300 7,140 1958-59 29,000 10,840 190,000* 86,622 67,452 18,846 34,000 4,055 Percentage increase 37.9 49.6 8.7 74.5 34.0 40.0 32.8 76.0 •Passengers accompanying cars LORD TERRINGTON REPORTS THE twelfth report of the Air Transport Advisory Council openson a characteristic note: a whole paper is devoted to the com- plaints of a passenger who was angry about Jersey Airlines. Thescrupulously fair consideration granted by the Council to this storm in a teacup is typical of the sense of fair play that pervadesJie report and indeed the Council's activities in general. This affair is also a timely reminder of the fact that the AT AC has beenlargely occupied with the minor problems of British air transport, the more important issues having—until recently—been evaded. This twelfth report will be the last to cover a full year, it beinglikely that the thirteenth report will be limited to a period of nine months. These months will be occupied almost entirely in issuingtransitional licences to cover next summer's inclusive tour business. The year was the busiest ever, with applications exceeding 1,000for the first time. Inclusive tours accounted for 689 of these, while international and domestic scheduled services accounted for 132and 38 respectively. Amendments to existing licences accounted for about half of the remaining 236 applications. On average, anapplication just failed to get an even chance of being approved, scheduled services showing a score rather better than par, whileinclusive tours showed a tendency to be rejected. Indeed, the Council's action on ITs was even more severe than is apparentfrom the bald statistics, for the invariably exaggerated demands of prospective tour operators were usually cut down sharply. As usual, the report provides a useful commentary on thedevelopment of British air transport. The continued growth of corporations and of independents leads the report to declareroundly that "the Council do not consider that the operations of independent companies have to any material extent adversely affected the growth of the traffic of the corporations." Yet perhapsthe most striking feature of the year was not a rise but an apparent reduction in inclusive tour traffic: the independents' IT businessfell at a time when tourism was booming. The demise of a major IT operator, Independent Air Transport, was largely the cause ofthe fall. But also significant was the rapid rise in BEA's IT traffic —much of it on normal scheduled services and, of course, therewas a good deal of unrecorded "unofficial" IT business flown by certain independent operators (see Flight, April 8, page 468). Anote on the ATAC's views about "spurious" group travel appeared in our first review of the report the week before last. TWO-YEAR AGREEMENT ON FARES •"THE principal achievement of the IATA traffic conference•*• which ended in Cannes on October 18, after its one-month meeting, was that fares shall be valid for a two-year, instead of ashitherto a one-year, period. This decision is described by the chairman of the meeting, Mr V. H. L. Dubourcq of KLM, as "amajor step towards greater stability in the industry. It is a sign that we are nearing the end of the revolutionary transition frompropellers to jets." It may not, he says, be possible to eliminate a 1961 conference entirely; but the new two-year agreement should"considerably compress the sessions, reduce their costs and effect substantial savings in tariff publications and sales procedures." In general the Cannes fares become effective on December 1or April 1, and are valid until March 31, 1963. Among the more important decisions were: — (1) The New York - Buenos Aires return tourist fare is to be reducedby a swingeing 36 per cent—from $934 to $599 by jet. Tickets for pro- peller travel on this route are to be 10 per cent less, having previouslybeen six per cent less. This is a real economy-class fare, brought about largely by the rate war, and PanAm hope to offer it as from January 1.First-class fares go up 10 per cent. (2) The Pacific is now "closed," with economy-class services to beoffered over the northern and central Pacific from December 1 at fares 14 per cent below existing tourist levels. Economy-class fares are thusnow available on all the world's long international routes. First-class fares on the Pacific go up slightly. Special group rates offering cutsof 30 per cent are available for off-peak periods. (3) There is to be a meeting in the spring to pool experience with the17-day North Atlantic excursion fares which went into effect on October 1, with a view to considering possible further reductions.North Atlantic economy passengers are now to be served with hot meals. (4) There is to be a special IATA conference on January 23 next, atan as yet unspecified place, to discuss "new approaches to cargo rating to encourage greater bulk traffic"—primarily over the North Atlantic. (5) The jet v. propeller differential is now firmly embedded in the IATAfare structure. All fares are based on jets, with a differential either in price or comfort for propeller aircraft on long hauls. In a statement last week BOAC welcomed the fact that IATAhas agreed to reduce fares for group travel to the Middle East. As for BEA, the Cannes conference allows reductions in the off-peak month of October to holiday resorts mainly in Spain, Portugal and Italy of between 17 and 23 per cent. Travellersduring the peak summer months to these holiday resorts can also get discounts of between two and 13 per cent if they fly atoff-peak times, but "popular-time" weekend travel to Valencia and Lisbon is to be cheaper, too. All first-class fares in Europe areto go up by 5 per cent. This is what the Breguet 942, the pressurized production version of the 941, will look like. The 942 differs from the 941 only in its pressurized circular section fuselage. Up to 50 passengers can be carried. Powerplant consists of four Turbomeca Turmo HID turboprops of 7,250 h.p. each. Passenger cabin is 30ft 8in long, 9ft Tin interior width, 6ft 6/n high; hold volume is 350 cu ft. Weights are as for the Breguet 941. [Breguet 945: see note on page 684]
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