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Aviation History
1962
1962 - 1544.PDF
286 FLIGHT International, 23 August /<,,-> Inlets of the sea, or the open sea itself, can be seen from every airport on Braathens' internal routes. Here are two of the company's five Friendships at Oslo BRAATHENS SAFE AIRTRANSPORT... at Oslo and airfields in the east. A crosswind limit of 25kt is applied. There is little margin for error at most airfields when making dirty-weather approaches; at Alesund, for instance, an approach to the instrument runway involves a tight turn to line up and fly between two close islands, rising steeply from the sea. Just off the overshoot end of the runway is an 800ft radio mast. There is no demand for night services along the routes and schedules are so arranged that aircraft arrive back at Stavanger in the evening for servicing overnight. But in the summer time, at least, Braathens can fly daylight services at times which are classi fied as night elsewhere, to the natural, day-lengthening advantage of the northern latitude is added one hour's summer time and in Oslo at midsummer the sun goes down only at 11 p.m. Further north, of course, it hardly goes down at all. Braathens know well the penalties of success. For one season the airline flew a scheduled international service, between Stavanger and Aalborg, in Denmark, after SAS had dropped it. In a few short months, they made a success of it, so SAS took it back. When the internal services began in 1957, the company's fares were pegged lower than those of SAS—Kr95 to SAS's KR110 for an Oslo—Stavanger flight. But on introducing aircraft fully competitive with the large concern's in speed and comfort, has been that its fares are now strictly regulated to equal those of SAS. "We wish they were lower," the company's sales inspector told me, "and they should be 25 per cent lower if we are to live up to the 'air bus' title, and improve our load factors." But until they are able to have all- round decreases approved, the company has instituted many re bates. Servicemen, students, families and other groups, blind people, pensioners and disabled all qualify for various rebates of 25 per cent on a seat-reserved basis, or 50 per cent on a space- available basis. A few weeks ago 50 per cent rebates began for people over 70, or married couples where one of the partners is over 70, on the relatively slack three mid-week days. So all-in-all, a very considerable number of passengers qualify in one way or another for cheap fares. Ordinary fares can be judged from the Krl35 (£7 10s) return for the 194 n.m. Oslo - Stavanger service. There is little demand for freight capacity on the routes, and the company does not actively canvass it. On May 1, however, a regular nightly service was begun for Aftenposten, the country's largest newspaper, for a flight departing Oslo at 4 a.m., for Stavan ger, Bergen and Allesund, carrying newspapers and mails. The effect of this, in a country where the Oslo - Stavanger journey by train takes 12hr, is that residents in Stavanger now have their papers and letters at breakfast time, instead of in the afternoon. The internal routes are awarded to Braathens on five-year licences. Plans are afoot to expand Arctic-wards to the very northern tip of Norway. There, at Kirkenes only two or three miles from the Soviet border, a new airport is complete and awaiting its ILS installation. Braathens are applying for a licence to extend the west coast route in 1963 through several points to Kirkenes, where the service would connect with Finnair. There would be a daily stopping service, taking about 8hr from Stavanger against almost a week by boat. Such an extension, if granted, would extend the company's area of competition with SAS—at present Braathens' services connect at Trondheim with SAS's DC-7s for flights further north, to Bodo and Bardufoss. The Norweigan David is in competition already with this par ticular Goliath on the routes between Oslo and Stavanger, Stavanser - Bergen, and Oslo - Trondheim. Between Oslo and Stavarw.er it competes with KLM, which works in pool with SAS. On this latter route traffic growth has been a staggering 80 ]>er cent, in the first quarter of this year, compared with a 36 per cent growth for the whole network which is predicted for 1962 over 1961. The overall traffic growth between 1961 and 1960 was four teen per cent. In 1959 about 100,000 passengers were carried on the internal routes, in 1960 110,000 and in 1961 125,250 passengers. In the first five months of this year 59,000 were carried, represent ing an average load of factor 58 per cent over last year's 47 per cent. Daily utilisation of the Friendships is running at about eight hours; it was 61 hours last year. The charter side of the business kept the one DC-6B in the air for 1,400 hours last year, one DC-4 for 2,100 hours and the two DC-3s for about 2,100 each. It is made up largely of inclusive-tour parties, for Swedish and Norwegian agencies, and of ships" crews; the DC-6B undertaking regular IT flights to Athens and some occasional charters further afield. The Friendships. too, play their part in the inclusive-tours traffic—about which Braathens has the same complaint heard elsewhere—'•it's a very competitive world and it is difficult to get full aircraft utiliza tion, as all the demand is at the weekend." But nonetheless, traffic seems to indicate the need for a second DC-6B fairly soon. Braathens has a fair claim to be considered as a maintenance organization, too, for of its overall staff of about 500 over 300 are employed directly on maintenance duties at Stavanger. There, in addition to its own aircraft, it does all maintenance of the five DC-6Bs of Loftleidir and the synthetic training of its crews. Fair- child C-119s and C-47s of the Royal Norwegian Air Force are overhauled on a contract basis, including their engines. Now being built is a sophisticated maintenance base costing about £500,000. It comes as no surprise to one knowing this virile organi zation to hear that it was designed within the company itself. Due for completion in 1963, the main building has a novel roof, sus pended by ties from a high gantry. Hints that Braathens might undertake even more sophisticated maintenance contracts than those they already handle might be inferred from the remark that the new base will be able to accommodate two big jets at a time. But if any aircraft in this class pass through its portals it might not be under contract maintenance. It is rare these days to talk to an airline chief who is responsible only to himself, but Mr Braathen. head of a family firm, is one such man. Loquacious, with twinkling eyes and belying his 75 years, he gives one the impression that his original intentions in entering air transport—to run long-haul inter continental services—still burn strongly. He says the company is interested in a 60-seat pure jet aircraft—the BAC One-Eleven or Fokker F.28—for its European and domestic operations but might need larger aircraft later on. Looking wistfully at one of several model tankers around his office, he wonders what will happen to SAS if Norway and Denmark go into the Common Market, as he is sure they must, and Air Union comes about. For over fifty years all the world's oceans have been his commercial playground, and one senses that such a man is not wholly content with being confined, in aviation, solely to the skies over his own back yard. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Waveney Flying Group: Fly-in, Seething. SB AC Flying Display and Exhibition, Farnborough. British Interplanetary Society: Space Forum. Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators: Presentation o) Trophies, Innholders' Hall, London EC4. RAF "At Home" Day. Tiger Club: Display, Fair Oaks. Wiltshire School of Flying: Thruxton Air Races. Grand Prix International de Bourges. RAeS Coventry: "Development of Seaslug" by C. Bayly and A. Lightbody. Second International Agricultural Aviation Congress, Cng- non, France. Air Display and Races, Shoreham. Aerodrome Owners Association: Annual Conference, Blackpool. , Aug 26 Sept 3-9 Sept 8 Sept 13 Sept 15 Sept 16 Sept 16 Sept 17-23 Sept 19 Sept 19-22 Sept 22 Sept 27-28
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