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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1607.PDF
YlGHT International, 5 September 1963 419 ; company saw a big opening for interline traffic. The company ected a 70 per cent load factor, and would carry 44,000 passengers annum. Mr Andrew Bateson, counsel for Cambrian, submitted it the City of Liverpool representation had proved the need and •re was a need for the "zest of competition" when a route was ling to carry 100,000 passengers a year. Cambrian should be osen rather than CEA, he said, because they had a simple plan, uch could be implemented within a week. Their Viscounts mid not swamp Starways, with whom they wished to co-operate, tereas "enormous Britannias" would. CEA pointed out that the Board had licensed competition on London - Edinburgh route when the traffic was 161,000 ssengers per annum. Initially, operational considerations would juce Britannia capacity to 104. CEA summed up that the company d the public had a need for the service: that the weekday business iffic was the primary flow; that their application had a priority er Cambrian; and that no evidence had been produced to prove Britannia diseconomies alleged. The company's history sproved Mr Bateson's suggestion that they were plunging into he deep end." Next came Liverpool - Dublin. CEA said that to operate ectively they needed more than the two to four weekly flights anted previously; Aer Lingus carried 50,000 passengers per mum on the route. Mr John Seekings for BEA objected to the plication, though it was an international route on which 5A did not operate. He said that two-thirds of the 160,000 nual passengers from the area used Manchester, and traffic i this route declined by 5 per cent last year. Total tourist movement Ireland had dropped by 2.3 per cent. BEA traffic via Manchester id increased by 30 per cent; but CEA would carry 54,000 passengers their first year at a 60 per cent load factor, if their application as granted. The Board next considered the Belfast - London route. CEA w opportunities for an increased rate of traffic growth, once the esent recession ended. They planned ten services per week, with ght or ten de luxe seats. Questions by Mr Marking revealed that e first southbound service arrived at Knightsbridge at 12.20 p.m., tiich he thought might be inappropriate for commuters. Mr E arking"s objection centred on the declining load factor which had ne from 75 per cent three years ago to 65 per cent in 1962-63. tere had been 158,000 empty seats last year, and a 34 per cent ipacity increase was planned for next year. The route had lost 1033m in the three years 1961-64. |Mr Lucking, representing the interests of the travelling public, ioke of booking difficulties on the route, and pointed out that K fewer Vanguard flights were timetabled this year than last. London - Manchester was the route about which most evidence as proffered. CEA had incurred development expenditure in the gion; Mr L. W. Hopkins spoke of his marketing surveys, and oduced six letters from businessmen illustrating their needs. 'Pporting CEA, Mr Leslie Cussons (whose famous "Imperial a ther" soap, it emerged, is used and recommended by Mr Henry arking of BEA) made two points. First, he frequently obtained a ts from ICI, who "always have a good many seats going." ^ndly, he had been given recently some form of "card" which labled his secretary "to have a bit more luck" with telephone >okings. The lightest moments of the hearing came from Mr Ksons who said, amid laughter, that he would hate to get mixed >wnh BOAC, "an old fat cow who all want sacking," and that 'name Cunard "stands for something, like Imperial Leather!" subsequently transpired that when these words were spoken «name Cunard Eagle Airways existed no more—it had been ™ged on August 9 to British Eagle International Airlines (see •£417). 51-Day! ^A reservations manager, produced 28 examples of mg difficulties, from which it emerged that many summer '*s on the London - Manchester business commuter route booKed up in January, February or March. A searching id •!exam'nauon provided an answer for some of his examples; a" Merged also that BEA had the individual flight load factors °SWei cases as appropriate. Later, Mr Marking declined to j^ce these figures to Mr Ashton Hill; the Board did not 'me j k'ng ^d that he had thought Mr Day's evidence was tfaL0 r,e damaging, but that the cases cited were all holiday- "rr5, and that all had travelled on the day they wished, usually year, but extra capacity had been provided as soon as the position was detected. There was now no shortage. Next year two extra Vanguard flights were planned, giving eleven services a day. The route was growing exceptionally fast, and 452,000 passengers would be carried this year, an increase of 21 per cent. It was hoped that a "walk on" service could be introduced eventually, and the stand-by fares applied for were a step towards this. A loss of £839,000 had been sustained in three years: the accumulated deficit would rise by 20 per cent (i.e., £280,000) this year. The London - Dublin route occupied little time. CEA planned to operate only one service initially, as licensed already; but they wanted the extra capacity authorized as a bargaining counter in the bilateral negotiations with the Irish. Cross-examination elicited that their figures were based on a 15 per cent growth rate (BEA's present achievement as they approach parity of capacity with Aer Lingus), whereas the tctal market only grew 4 per cent last year. Mr Marking did not give development losses, but said that the present load factor of 72 per cent just about broke even. [To be concluded] More Friendships for All Nippon A further four Fokker Friend ship Series 200s have been ordered by All Nippon to bring the fleet to 18. When Fujita Airlines is merged with All Nippon on November 1 the airline will operate a fleet of 20 Friendships, the largest in the world. Fujita Heron Accident A Heron operated by the Japanese airline Fujita was reported missing on August 17 on a charter flight from Hachijo to Tokyo. There were 16 passengers and three crew on board. Wreckage and bodies are reported to have been found on Mt Hachijo-Fuji, Hachijo Island. CAB and Thrift Fares As this issue goes to press the CAB is expected to issue US airlines attending the LATA fares meeting in Salzburg with a statement setting out the fare reductions for which the Board will almost certainly expect US airlines to press. PAA as already reported, will seek the introduction of their proposed special "thrift class" $160 New York-London jet fare with a 189-seat, six-abreast, 34in pitch without meal service. A break-even load factor of 54 per cent is estimated by PAA for thrift-class, which will be in addition to first and economy though not in the same aircraft. According to the CAB chairman, Mr Alan Boyd, the proposed thrift service "might or might not have no-reserva tions characteristics." The two Hawker Siddeley Argosy 100s operated by Zantop Air Transport are being extensively used for shipping urgently needed motor car components from Detroit to sub-assembly plants in many parts of the United States. The truck bed height double-end loading features of the aircraft are invaluable in handling this kind of load. The 24,4001b consignment seen going aboard in this photograph was flown 700 miles to Kansas City 'thin aa hour of when they desired. It was accepted that load Ctorc V. j WIJCII uicy ucwicu. n was iicvcpivu uiai iu«tu a " been high and there had been difficulties earlier this
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