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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0768.PDF
FLIGHT International, 23 May 1963 739 LUFTHANSA'S AIR BUS A REPORT on the first 24 days of the new Lufthansa Air Bus service between Frankfurt and Hamburg shows that, although the load factor of 34.6 per cent is not very high, the airline has found the experience reasonably satisfying. Patronage on weekends and over the Easter holidays was quite low and overall it tended to spoil the relatively good weekday figures. Because it is still early days, and the public has not yet been fully educated as to the existence of the service, no thought is being given to dropping the weekend flights. One of the most encouraging discoveries has been that there is no decrease in traffic on the regular scheduled Hamburg flights. In other words, the Air Bus is generating new business. From the customers' point of view the major difference between the Air Bus and, for instance, Eastern's shuttle service is that a seat is not guaranteed. Seats are sold at a separate ticket desk on the airfield on a first-come-first-served basis and, unlike the Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro Ponte Aerea, there is not another aircraft for some time. In practice there have been few disappointed would-be passengers. Only one flight during the initial period from April 1 to April 24 was filled to capacity and only one of the 124 scheduled flights had to be cancelled for technical reasons. Except for its low frequency, the Air Bus offers most of the advantages of a shuttle service—no bothering with reservations, the minimum of ticket-handling fuss and, of course, lower fares. There are three flights a day in each direction on weekdays and two in each direction on Saturdays and Sundays. Every day of the week there is an 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. departure from each city. In addition there is a weekday flight from Hamburg at 10 a.m. and a weekday flight from Frankfurt at 2 p.m. Flight time over the 325-mile route is lhr 20min. Fare for the flight is DM75 (approx imately £6 14s) and DM135 (approximately £12 Is) return. Com parable round-trip railfares are DM132 on the deluxe TEE Express, DM120 on a regular express, and DM72 for those willing to endure an all-day trip on a local train. A special stand has been erected near to the apron at Frankfurt's Rhein-Main Airport, especially to accommodate Air Bus passengers. All that an intending Air Bus passenger need do is to present himself at the stand just prior to departure. No ticket of any kind is needed to board. Tickets are sold during the flight at no extra charge, and the "think of everything" Germans even have a promissory note system worked out for the first passenger who cannot afford the fare. There is a steward and stewardess on each trip, but virtually no in-flight service for the passengers (though you can have hot water if you bring your own instant coffee). The baggage allow ance has been cut from 20kg to 15kg. Fuller utilization of propeller equipment was one of the major reasons for establishing the service, but Lufthansa stress that it was not the only reason. Experience with similar operations elsewhere, plus a survey of travel agents and business firms, led the airline to think that entirely new customers would be introduced to air travel. Initial experience seems to have borne this out. All nine of the Super Constellations in the Lufthansa fleet have been pressed into use as Air Buses, but none of them is assigned to the service exclusively. The morning Hamburg - Frankfurt Air Bus often makes a flight to Rome and back before returning on the evening Air Bus Frankfurt - Hamburg. If the current experiments prove successful a Frankfurt - Munich Air Bus will be established, and one connecting Frankfurt withaRhineland city, either Cologne or Diisseldorf. Other possible routes are Munich - Rhineland and Munich - Frankfurt - Hamburg. HELICOPTERS FOR BEA SO, after all, BEA have been granted a helicopter subsidy and have, as expected, chosen the Sikorsky S-61N rather than the Boeing Vertol 107 for their development of big-helicopter operations. Two of the 25-seat twin-turbine helicopters (the first aircraft ever ordered by BEA from a non-British manufacturer) will start regular services on the Land's End - Isles of Scilly route next year. Although the new service will be enormously beneficial to the major Scilly Isles trade of tourists and flowers, by offering greatly increased capacity, and by flying directly into the centre of Penzance, it will almost certainly operate at a financial loss to BEA even with the subsidy. Cost of the two helicopters is £500,000, and the Government have made a once and for all grant of £75,000 towards the operation. The main object of the exercise is not to replace the Rapides currently operating the route (also at a loss) but to keep BEA's helicopter experience right up to date. With further engine and airframe development and operating experience, helicopters of the S-61N calibre could well become an economically viable inter-city transport within Europe during the next five years or so. For Sikorsky the BEA order may well prove to be a significant breakthrough into the European civil market. The initial order for BEA will be powered by General Electric T58-8s, but it is understood that Bristol Siddeley and Sikorsky have concluded an agreement to fit Gnomes into an S-61N against possible future orders from Europe. There is also a strong possi bility that BEA's first two machines may eventually be retro spectively fitted with Gnomes. Maintenance of the S-61Ns will be based at Gatwick and normally one aircraft will be there all the time on stand-by for the regular service or for special charter. MMil§iffPWMP* The inauguration of Lufthansa's Air Bus service (see report on this page) was an occasion for the publicity department to arrange this display of buses over the last century
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