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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1463.PDF
279 FLIGHT Internationa 22 August 1963 Six Tu-l04As operate the prime longer-haul routes, each averaging about 1,800 hours a year CSA to place its newly acquired Tu-104A jets on to its Prague- Brussels service. Each subsequent year has seen CSA step further afield: Cairo and Bombay in 1959; Damascus, Baghdad, Rabat, Dakar and Conakry in 1960; Rangoon, Djakarta and Bamako in 1961; and Havana (using a Britannia chartered from Cubana) in 1962. Although this international system is now extensive—repre senting an unduplicated network of 37,000 miles—it is still far from intensive, for the highest frequency is only five a week (on Prague- Moscow) while the average frequency on international services in just under twice weekly. If competitive timings are to be offered it becomes virtually impossible to achieve high utilization rates on such a far-flung infrequent network. The current international programme thus provides each of CSA's six Tu-104As with only 1,800 flying hours a year while the six Il-18s, even after allowing for some internal flying, only average about 2,000 hours a year each. Although utilization of aircraft is below average, CSA's utili zation of seats tends to be above average. On services within Eastern Europe this is largely the result of the "Six Pool" which embraces the trails-border activities of Malev, LOT, Lufthansa, CSA, TAROM and TABSO. The need for such a sharing of these carriers' revenues and traffic rights, and integration of schedules, is abundantly clear when it is realized how low are the inter-capital air frequencies in Eastern Europe; taking all carriers, these average just under twice daily with the highest (Prague-East Berlin)standing at only four daily. On services to Western Europe the airline also does well, this being at least partly due to its generous dispensing of what is without doubt one of the country's most valuable assets, Urquell pilsner, of which CSA served 35,000 litres last year. Another factor here is the admitted sales advantage that CSA enjoys by virtue of its connections with Cedok (the state travel organization which handles the arrangements of most tourists) and the various State enter prises (such as Kovo, Motokov and Omnipol) through which all foreign trade is channelled. To give an example: it is the declared policy of each of these corporations generally to import f.o.b. and to export c.i.f., thus allowing the corporation to direct the traffic to the carrier of its choice. In the case of the UK this policy has particular relevance, for it is Czechoslovakia's trade policy to build up a balance on sterling (in 1962 the export quota to UK was £9m, whereas the import quota was £7m) which is then used to finance purchases of raw materials from less industrialized terri tories in the sterling area. Under these circumstances the effect of the loss to a rival of a London-Prague passenger is that Czecho slovakia has to cut by £50 its import of, say, New Zealand wool. Strangely enough the most successful of all CSA's international operations is the service to Havana which is operated in pool with Cubana. That this route has now become the established path between Eastern Europe and Latin America is visibly evident from the hordes of people who are to be seen twice a week at Prague disembarking from the Britannia after its circuitous 18hr journey from Cuba. Not unexpectedly, as a result of this entry into the long-haul market, CSA's international carryings have been increasing fast. CSA's international and domestic route network. Stars indicate points served by Tu-l04As, solid squares II-18s, dotted squares Britannias (in association with Cubana) and solid dots Il-I4s (domestic routes) BUCURESTr BOMBAY If Jfe» RANGOON \r^ D lOM PENH J 0 , ,rA
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