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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 1097.PDF
FLIGHT, 10 August 1961 199 might be less restrictive on the Genoa than on the Venice route becauseof the larger tourist area served by Genoa. Mr E. C. Mekie, of Silver City, next cross-examined Mr Whybrowand asked if he was aware of the reason why the service which Silver City formerly operated to Genoa had been suspended. Mr Whybrowsuggested that it was because they had no more flying boats left. Mr Mekie then asked whether Silver City, having once operated a service toGenoa and being willing to resume operations, were not entitled to protection and priority of consideration for the route. Mr Whybrowsaid that Silver City operations had been so long ago that they were historical. The Board next heard the application by BEA for the same route.This, A. 1907, was opposed by Silver City, BUA and Skyways. Mr Milward, witness for BEA, said that the application had been submittedon February 14. He briefly reviewed the terms of the application and said that BEA expected the airport at Genoa to open in the spring of1962, when they proposed to begin operations with Comet 4Bs. These would operate at a restricted load, if necessary, until the full length ofthe runway was available. A service by any other operator, said Mr Milward, would diverttraffic from the existing services of BEA, whereas BEA could fit the Genoa route into their existing pattern. A BEA service would diverttraffic only from the Pisa service of Cunard Eagle, and the diversion would be so small that CEA were not objecting to BEA's application.He estimated that 80 per cent of the potential Genoa traffic was already being carried by existing BEA services to other points. BEA's poolagreement with Alitalia would cover this route. Asked by Mr Marking why he thought a licence should be granted toBEA, Mr Milward said that BEA would offer the best service, at an adequate frequency, with faster aircraft. They had a first class salesorganization to meet competition from Alitalia. Operation by BEA of this route would also help the continued development of their relationswith the Italian airline. Counsel for BUA cross-examined Mr Milward. After commentingthat the Board had had plenty of opportunity to judge how BEA, with 140 routes, handled the operation of a service, but not the same chanceto judge the independents, Mr Gardiner said that BUA had made their application for this service in December, 1960; was it not correct thatBEA had objected to this application in January, 1961, and themselves submitted an application in February 1961 ? Mr Milward accepted thedates as correct. Mr Gardiner then asked wheher Mr Milward could reconcile the statement made by BEA in their objection that there wasno potential need or demand for the service, with the claim, made in their own application, that the traffic would exceed that to Milan orNice. Mr Milward agreed that the two did not seem to clew up. Mr Gardiner said that BEA claimed in their objection that therewould be wasteful duplication of their services by BUA. What services ? Mr Milward said that a BUA service to Genoa would duplicate theBEA services to Nice and Milan. Asked whether BEA's own service to Genoa—if granted—would not produce the same duplication, MrMilward said that BEA preferred to do their own duplicating; they would then be carrying the traffic on one route or the other. He did notagree that the bargaining position of an independent would be better than that of BEA in making a commercial agreement with Alitalia forthe new route. Mr Mekie cross-examined Mr Milward in support of Silver City'sobjection. He asked whether it was not fair to say that BEA claimed that where they had a licence and had spent money pioneering a routethey alone should be allowed to reap where they had sown. Mr Milward agreed. Mr Mekie then asked whether this did not apply also to otherairlines. Mr Milward said that the Silver City flying boat service had been a very minor operation of a different kind and had ended threeyears ago. BEA "Clews Up" a Point After a brief cross-examination by Mrs Whittaker, for Skyways, MrMilward was re-examined by Mr Marking with reference to failure of BEA's own application and their objection to BUA to "clew up." Hesaid that a BUA service would divert traffic from BEA; there was therefore no justification for granting a licence to BUA. He alsothought there was little likelihood of securing more than 50 per cent of the traffic on the Genoa route for a British carrier except through acommercial agreement with Alitalia. Mr Gardiner pointed out some apparent inaccuracies in the BEAtables and suggested that their table for the London- Genoa route was "balderdash." He referred to the figure for BUA expected traffic as apercentage of BEA accumulated growth in the period 1962-63 to 1965- 66—476 per cent—and asked for a figure for the BEA expected trafficas a percentage of BUA accumulated growth. The Board also asked Mr Gilbert of BEA to clarify certain apparent inccrasistencies.Business continued with the hearing of Tradair's application A.1273 for a service to Genoa, during the summer season only (May to October).Objections to this application had been made by BEA, Silver City Airways and Skyways. Mr Porter's presentation of the Tradair applica-tion was brief; he said that the application stood as submitted with the restrictions on bookings he had already mentioned. The Tradair capa-city would be 7,200 seats per annum and, as this would be a new route, they estimated a 60 per cent load factor only, i.e., 4,320 passengers perannum. Mr Marking's cross-examination was equally brief; neither the otherobjectors nor the Board had any questions to ask and Mr Porter made way for the next applicant. This was Mr Mekie, advocate and witness Disembarking at London Gatwick on July 31 are passengers who accom- panied Overseas Aviation's inaugural service from Prestwick via Man- chester. A note on the new service and on Overseas appears on page 202 for Silver City application A.I 144, for a licence for a service from Man-ston, Bournemouth or London to Marseilles and Genoa. Mr Mekie said that the Silver City application was different from the others in thatSilver City had a licence and experience of operating a service to Genoa; they were appearing before the Board to protect that whichthey had. He would suggest that BEA and BUA had taken on the mantle of Ahab and were seeking to rob Naboth"s vineyard. As soon as Silver City heard of the intention to build a land airportat Genoa they had lodged an application for a licence in order to reap where they had sown. The application stated that they would useViscounts at a later date, but Silver City understood that the airport would not be ready for use in 1962. Since their application had beenlodged they had been granted other licences for which they would re- quire long range aircraft. Silver City were waiting for the result oftheir present application before acquiring aircraft for the route as they did not want to come before the Board claiming that they had boughtaircraft for the service and were therefore entitled to a licence. They wanted to know what their commitments were, and then order theaircraft they needed. Having started the service and being the only holders of a licence for aroute in which they had invested capital, Silver City felt that they, and they alone should be granted a licence now.With regard to the other applicants and objectors, BEA were applying one code to themselves and a different code to others; BUA wanted alicence because they felt that they would like to go there; BOAC's objection didn't count; and the objection made by Skyways was vagueand did not require consideration. Mr Mekie's Bread Mr Marking, cross-examining Mr Mekie, suggested that BEA werenot seeking to reap where others had sown, as Silver City had sown on the waters of the sea. Mr Mekie replied that he had excellent scripturalauthority for casting his bread upon the waters; the Chairman com- mented that theological debate with Mr Mekie would lead the BEAadvocate into deep waters. Mr Marking suggested that Mr Mekie's bread was under the waters. Mr Gardiner, cross-examining, went on to suggest that a £17mcompany like BUA might do better in competition with Alitalia than Silver City with four-engined Handley Pages, which he described asold-fashioned tricycles. Mr Mekic said that they were proposing to use Viscounts, which Silver City would have no trouble in getting. The next application to be heard was A.1281, by BEA, for a servicefrom London to Marseilles. Objections had been entered by Silver City and by Overseas Aviation. Mr Milward, witness for BEA, con-firmed the terms of the application and said that BEA would like to start operations on the route with effect from November this year.BEA had operated the route in 1946 but had withdrawn when Nice was developed because services to both points were not then justified.They had watched developments and thought that a separate service to Marseilles was now justified. Mr Milward gave BEA's estimates of traffic potential. He said that90 per cent of the initial traffic to Marseilles would otherwise have been carried on BEA services to other points, or via Paris. BEA couldtherefore develop the London - Marseilles service without wasteful duplication, but any other carrier would divert traffic from BEA. The Board next turned its attention to applications for services toMadeira, dealing first with A.1022, by BUA, for the route Gatwick - Lisbon - Madeira (Porto Santo). The history of this route, presentedby Mr Gardiner for BUA, covered the earlier operation of a flying boat service by Aquila Airways, abandoned because of difficulties caused byweather delays, and the application made by Airwork and Hunting- Clan in 1959 for a service to the airport being constructed on the adjoin-ing island of Porto Santo. This application had been refused on the grounds that there was no reasonable means of transport for passengersbetween the island of Porto Santo and Funchal. Madeira had been con- siderably developed by the Union Castle Line, and BUA, in associationwith Union Castle, had offered to provide a suitable vessel, at a cost of £150,000, for the sea link between Porto Santo and Funchal. BUAwere also considering building hotels in both Porto Santo and Funchal. Mr Mekie of Silver City cross-examined Mr Whybrow and askedwho had defined the BUA sphere of influence in which they included
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