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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0762.PDF
772 FLIGHT, 1 June 1961 AIR COMMERCE... Here, nearing the end of its flight test programme at Wisley, is the first of 14 Vanguard 953s for BEA. Delivery is imminent as this issue goes to press. First flight of the 953—which has a design pay load of'37,OOOIb—was exactly a month ago AUSTRALIA AND THE ONE-ELEVEN BOTH Australian domestic operators, Ansett-ANA and TAA,have reacted favourably to the BAC-111 announcement. They would prefer the 107 for size, according to an Australian corre-spondent, but regard the Spey engine as an advantage. Greatest advantage of all is the fact that the Department of CivilAviation has been told by Vickers (but this has not been publicly stated, for some reason) that the 1201b/sq in maximum-weighttyre pressure can be changed to 87 in any aircraft sold to Australian operators. This pressure will allow the BAC-111 to operate intoEssendon, Melbourne. The 107 would also be allowed into Essen- don pending construction of the new jet airport at Tullamarine.The Department said this officially and has also wanted to put it on record that the Boeing 727 and the DH121 Trident would notbe allowed into Essendon. BAC has a great opportunity to sell the 111 hard against theBaby Caravelle, which is also causing a great deal of interest. The DCA will, it is thought, favour the operators buying the smallerjets first and to keep these operating for a year or two together with Electras. The DCA's opinion will be a major factor in these de-cisions. The operators could therefore have BAC Ills (or Baby Caravelles) operating in Australia in the second half of 1964—a wonderful opportunity for the British industry. ABOUT AIR INTER IN sharp contrast to the direct and increasing competition betweenBEA and British Railways, and to Aerofiot's declared aim of taking passenger traffic away from the Russian railways, Frenchinternal air services are run by a carrier which represents a note- worthy joint venture between State and private enterprise airlineson the one hand and French Railways (SNCF) on the other hand. This airline is Air Inter—Lignes Aeriennes Interieures, some detailsof which appeared in Flight's World Airline Survey of April 13, and whose Bulletin d'Information No. 1, recently issued, is a verycreditable piece of public relations. It reveals that Air France and SNCF (Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer) each have a 24.95per cent holding in Air Inter, the remainder of whose capital is held by UAT (7.27 per cent), TAI (7.27 per cent), Air Algerie(7 per cent), Aigle Azur (3.65 per cent), le Caisse des Depots et Consignations (4 per cent), le Banque de l'lndochine (5.27 per cent),le Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas (5.27 per cent), Lazard Freres et Cie (5.27 per cent) and two road haulage concerns, Rapides deLorraine and Rapides de Cote d'Azur, with a 5.1 per cent combined holding. Air Inter started operations in March 1958 but discontinued services in November of that year because of rising costs. For the next year operations were on a seasonal basis, while commercialresearch was directed to the requirements—in particular co-ordina- tion with surface transport—for a successful French internalnetwork. Operations were resumed on June 1, 1960, and during the remainder of last year a total of 16,103 passengers and 81 tonnesof freight were carried, 1,333 hours were flown and a load factor of 49 per cent was achieved. Traffic was boosted by large-scaleadvertising (including the use of Radiodiffusion Francaise), by Air France's help as sales agents and by the opening of ticket officeson several SNCF stations for the sale of Air Inter and combined SNCF-Air Inter tickets. Price of the latter, which buys a first-classrail seat in one direction and a return journey by air, is now 10 per cent cheaper, apart from the reductions to which the passengeris entitled as a traveller by SNCF. Paris-Toulouse, Paris-Pau and Lille - Lyons - Nice services wereoperated on a year-round basis during 1960, supplemented by seasonal services to Lourdes, Biarritz, Nice, Dinard, Quimper andLa Baule. This year's operations have been greatly expanded, with the following new permanent routes: Paris-Lorient-Brest(from January 11), Paris-Lyons (from March 12), Paris-Nice (from April 1), Nantes-Lyons (connecting with the Lille-Lyons-Niceservices), Paris - Clermont Ferrand - Nimes and a route linking the south-west of France to Lyons and Alsace. The Paris-Toulouseroute is now extended to Perpignan, and on most of the year-round routes weekday return fares are now 20 per cent cheaper. Grouptravel has also been made 10 per cent cheaper, although the group must now number at least 20 people instead of ten as before toqualify for group rates. Expansion of routes is being accompanied by an intensified sales drive carried out by the airlines and SNCF inclose liaison. A ticket office has been open since January in the Champs-Elysees, and another will be opened later this year at12 Rue de Castiglione, Air Inter's Paris office. Booking procedures will be simplified where possible, and Air Inter's operations couldwell develop in a few years to the stage where "walk-on" services similar to those of Allegheny—and more lately Eastern—becomefeasible. Air Inter emphasizes that the use of leased equipment is only atemporary solution pending the acquisition of its own fleet; the company envisages a 20/25-passenger turboprop for secondaryroutes and a 40/50-passenger aeroplane for the main routes. A full-scale mock-up of the 50-passenger Breguet 942 in Air Intercolours has been prepared for the Paris Show. AN AIRPORT FOR NORWICH HORSHAM St FAITH is being considered by the NorwichCouncil as a new civil airport for East Anglia. An airportcommittee has been formed and letters have been sent to British airlines asking if they would be prepared to operate from theaerodrome if the council's airport committee takes it over. It is upon the replies to these questionnaires that the decisionto go ahead will depend, but it is hoped by developing the airport to encourage industry to take an interest in what is now largely anagricultural area. At present, Horsham St Faith is used by the RAF as a helicopter rescue centre but is virtually unused by fixed-wing aircraft. The council's plans are not proceeding without opposition, and there have already been complaints that civilaircraft would result in a noise nuisance. The airport is about 24 miles north of the city, which has a population of some 118,000. A new shot ofTupolev's turbofan Tu-124, Aerofiot's short-range Caravelle- class jet airliner. The aircraft was making its western debut wit:: an appearance at the Paris Salon this week
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