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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1328.PDF
156 FLIGHT International, 2 August 1962 AIR COMMERCE... be diverted from the existing short-haul Bristol routes from Southend. In fact, something like 4,000 cars will have been carried of which less than 1,000 appear to have been "robbed" from the shorter routes. After all the early doubts and headshakings this tremendous demand for long-haul car ferry services is described as "one of the most exciting things that could have happened to us." It certainly must be relieving long-term anxieties about the effect of a Channel tunnel (or bridge) on short-haul services. Eventually a requirement for 28 Carvairs is envisaged. Three are in service at the moment, flying an average of 9hr a day each and achieving a performance which is said to be better, in particular as regards speed and operating cost, than was estimated. Traffic on all the Bristol routes (Silver City and Channel Air Bridge combined) so far this year has gone up, but not at its accustomed rate—due mainly to the political unrest in France. Passengers have increased by only 3 per cent, from 142,500 to 147,500; cars have gone up 10 per cent from 48,500 to 53,700; and motor cycles—a traditional thermometer of air ferry health— have gone down from 1,300 to 1,000. Future of the Short Routes While the short-haul routes will continue to be operated accord ing to the present Silver City-Channel Air Bridge pattern, their long-term future seems a little uncertain, for four reasons: (1) The Bristol Freighters (27 in all*) will not last for ever, and the lives of these hard-worked aircraft may well be seen out in three or four years' time. One of the beauties of the Carvair, of course, is that it is suitable for short-haul as well as long-haul work; but (2) the Channel tunnel (or bridge) may in the long term siphon off some of the demand for short-haul air ferries; (3) experience with the Carvair services has proved beyond doubt where the big future demand of the motorized holidaymaker may lie; and (4) boat com petition is increasing—frequency has gone up, and the two new boats that have been added this year will alone carry a further 1,500 cars a day each way across the Channel, an increase which alone is more than double the carryings of Silver City and Channel Air Bridge together. Furthermore, boat fares are already so low that the air operators canno't reduce fares further without seriously compromising service. Unfortunately, it looks as though air ferry fares, which did not go up when the European airlines increased their fares by 5 per cent last October, may have to be increased. The increases will probably be applied to passenger fares only, and not to the vehicle fares. Air ferry fares have not gone up for four years, but costs have —12 per cent on the Calais route in landing fees and crew costs alone last year. Fares would probably have gone up merger or no; as it is, an increase following the merger may present something of a public relations problem. The putting together of a just-profitable Channel Air Bridge and a heavily unprofitable Silver City does not of course enable black figures to be entered in the ledger as yet. And suggestions that British United might be taking advantage of their new monopoly by increasing prices would be based on the false premise that Silver City and Channel Air Bridge had always been in competition; in fact the main competition for both companies has always come from the boats. If fares are increased, after having been held for a year longer than those of the other European airlines, it will no doubt be emphasized that it is the general rise in airline costs, and not the cost of the merger, that is being passed on to the public. Is the development of long-haul vehicle-ferry business likely to affect BEA's markets ? The booming demand for the Carvair ser vices will inevitably lead to the opening of more routes. British licences are already held for Lyons, Bremen and Diisseldorf, and among other new places being surveyed are Luxembourg; Cler mont Ferrand and Nimes, in France; and Esbjerg in Denmark. BEA may be in a difficult position here, having said many times that vehicle-ferry services are among the "different ideas" that the independents are welcome to develop. Can they now say that these services have been developed too far, and that Carvairs are diverting their traffic? BEA may, and probably will, argue thus whenever British United applications for more vehicle-ferry services come up before the ATLB, as they certainly will. But however much * Channel Air Bridge, eight Mk 32s, one Mk 31; Silver City (and CAT), 13 Mk 32s, five Mk 21s (three of the latter to be retired this year). ----- SILVER CITY CHANNEL AIR BRIDGE CHANNEL AIR BRIDGE CARVAIR © POSSIBLE NEW CARVAIR POINTS The existing Silver City and Channel Air Bridge car-ferry routes continue as before the merger, as shown on this map emphasis may be put on the availability of hire-car facilities, the public cannot really be deprived of their desire—fairly convincingly apparent from Carvair experience so far—to take their holidays farther and farther abroad in the family car. BRITANNIA SAFETY RECORD AFTER approximately 200 million miles of Britannia airline flying since February 1957, the Canadian Pacific Airlines crash at Hono lulu on July 22 (see last week's issue) was the first accident to result in loss of life to fare-paying passengers. The aircraft, one of six operated by CPAL, had taken off en route for Sydney, and when the crash occurred some 45min later the aircraft was landing back at the airfield after a cockpit warning light had led to the feathering of an engine. Of the 40 people on board, 13 in the rear cabin survived the impact and subsequent fire with only minor injuries. The other 27, including the flight crew, died. This one fatal Britannia crash in approximately 500,000 hours' flying by 60 aircraft since the training flight accident at Hum in December 1958 still establishes the Britannia safety record well above the average of approximately one every 300,000hr estimated for large piston airliners. The actual cause of the accident is not yet clear, but it appears from eye-witnesses that the aircraft veered off the runway during the landing and collided with a group of bulldozers. POSTSCRIPT TO MOHAWK'S ORDER TIME may well show that Mohawk's order for the BAC One- Eleven (last week's issue) marked a significant stage in the history of the aircraft. Last autumn's Braniff order for the One-Eleven, and earlier letters-of-intent from Frontier and Ozark, no doubt prompted Douglas to announce details of their closely similar design, the Model 2086; notwithstanding this, a second US airline has now decided to import the foreign product. This second firm order by a US domestic operator, worth $14m with spares, involves four aircraft for delivery in early 1965 and brings the total number of One-Elevens on order in the United States to ten, with six more on option. Following this latest US order, and the statement by Mr R. V. Carleton, Braniff's senior vice-president, that his airline may eventually require 20-30 of the short-haul British jets, it may be increasingly difficult for Douglas to decide on a go-ahead with the 2086. Commenting on the Mohawk order, Sir George Edwards,
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