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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 1944.PDF
FLIGHT International, 7 November 1963 747 on the grounds that economy basic fares of £91 peak and £75 year- round are not low enough. Footnote Pan American made a net profit of £7£m in the first nine months of 1963, the highest ever reported in the airline industry. TWA in the same period made a record profit of £4.3m. BELFAST'S NEW AIRPORT ALDERGROVE, the new Belfast airport opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on October 28, has better runways than Nutts Corner and obstacle-free approaches. In particular Aldergrove has a greater potential for expansion and the modern terminal building, in the departure lounge of which is the plaque unveiled by Her Majesty, is a welcome change from the outdated buildings used by passengers at Nutts Corner. Originally it was intended that Aldergrove would be jointly used by military and civil aircraft and that the RAF would provide all the technical services. In recent months, however, it has been decided that the Ministry of Aviation will take over full operational responsibility in 1964. The Ministry forecasts that about a million passengers will pass through Aldergrove in 1968 at a peak rate of 625 per hour. In the year 1962 Belfast had 570,000 passengers at a peak rate of 389 per hour, and current rate is about 10 per cent higher. Total cost of the terminal was about £im; the apron and other associated work cost about £400,000. So far BEA, BKS and BUA have rented accom modation and British Eagle are negotiating for facilities. The 13-acre apron has ten aircraft stands and can be easily extended eastwards if necessary in about 1970. Aldergrove has two 6,000ft asphalt runways compared with Nutts Corner's one of 6,000ft and another of 4,800ft. The main runway can be extended if necessary to 12,000ft and the subsidiary runway to 9,000ft. A completely new control tower has been built and BEA are constructing a freight shed separate from the accom modation provided for other operators. m LAV Jet Requirements According to Interavia, LAV have ordered three Caravelles. New York Collision Damages Overall damages awarded following the United DC-8 and TWA Constellation collision over New York on December 16, 1960, are to be shared as follows: United, 61 per cent; the US Government [FAA], 24 per cent; TWA, 15 per cent. AA's Concorde Order calls for a second deposit of $600,000 if the aircraft meets specification. This is in addition to the initial deposit of $600,000 and according to Aviation Daily was inad vertently not mentioned in the announcement. AA's delivery positions are 21, 24, 27 and 33. BOAC Suspend Polar Route As from next Saturday, November 9, BOAC are to suspend their direct London - Los Angeles polar route service, concentrating instead on London - New York - San Francisco for at least the next two years, the period of the New York World Fair. The direct London - Los Angeles service will be resumed at the end of the Fair if market studies are favourable. Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines is the name of the new Jordanian national airline superseding Jordan Airlines. Alia will use Dart Heralds, DC-7s and, it is reported, Convair 990s. Forty per cent is owned by the Jordanian Government, 35 per cent by the Middle East Tourist Co, and the balance by public shareholders. It is believed that the Heralds will be the two delivered to the Royal Jordanian Air Force. Dundee and the Minister In an unusual official communique the Ministry of Aviation put on record a visit by the Lord Provost of Dundee to Mr Neil Marten, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Aviation, to discuss Dundee's need for a feeder air service to Glasgow/Edinburgh. Mr Marten is "concerned to see arr angements made for improvement of air services" and suggested l hat the best course would be for the Lord Provost to take up the matter direct with BEA. EAGLE TO GLASGOW FARE-PAYING passengers as well as the Press accompanied the inaugural London - Glasgow flight of British Eagle Britannia G-AOVT Enterprise (Capt Busby) on the evening of Sunday, November 3. Forward bookings on the three trunk routes linking London with Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast number about 2,000 over the next month or two—an encouraging response, the airline feels, before the service has actually started. There has been so much talk about independent competition for BEA that the public, and the Scots in particular, could well have become sceptical of anything actually happening; but in their morning papers on November 4 they saw photographs of pipers welcoming the inaugural flight, and glowing reports of the excellent cabin service. It might not be too rash to guess that in a few weeks' time this new service will be fully subscribed. Mr Harold Bamberg, British Eagle's chairman, gave a news conference in the British Eagle terminal at Renfrew Airport, a spacious and comfortable passenger building where passengers select their seats and are then able to trickle aboard. Asked for his reactions to BEA's announcement on November 1 that the corporation is introducing trickle-loading and seat-selection on most London flights from Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh to London, Mr Bamberg said: "Well, I think I can say that it would never have happened but for us. It was certainly high time." He hoped to introduce trickle-loading as soon as possible at London Heathrow but the domestic building there, which had only two doors, was "rather a disgrace." He emphasized to the large gathering of guests and Scottish Press that "This new service is not a pirate operation; it is being implemented as a matter of Government policy. We deplore the three alterations that BEA have made to their timetables just to duplicate our flights. This is wasteful duplication." Three stewardesses and three stewards were hard at work throughout the flight serving dinner. The Britannias have 16 first-class seats and 87 tourist. Full meals are served on flights that depart at meal times, and elaborate snacks at other times. The first-class meal and wine list is of the highest standard. To quote from the British Eagle sales literature: "Plastic glasses and cutlery will not be used on any British Eagle flights. Only real glasses and attractive cutlery. . . . Wedgwood china and fine quality glassware will be used in the first-class cabin." Each passenger will receive a personal letter from Mr Bamberg together with a voucher entitling him to a free drink, with the chairman's compliments, "on the next occasion you fly on British Eagle domestic routes." In the letter Mr Bamberg thanks passengers "for supporting my efforts to establish a private enter prise scheduled air service in the British Isles. This is the first time an independent airline has challenged the nationalized State-run corporations on internal routes in this country. We have done it because we feel that friendly competition is bound to lead to the overall improvement of the services and because we are quite certain there is a demand for an alternative service." The route pattern will provide nearly eight hours' work a day for one aircraft, but a fleet standby aircraft is always available to maintain the schedules should the need arise. BEA Malta Training Because of Stansted's bad weather record BEA are to base their winter Vanguard pilot training in Malta. British United Air Ferries Incident Six people on board a BUAF Bristol Freighter were uninjured when the aircraft skidded off a runway at Guernsey on October 30. It is reported that the aircraft was landing in bad weather on a flight from Bournemouth. Rotterdam Carvair Crash Report Though not yet published by the Ministry of Aviation, the Dutch Aviation Council report on the BUAF Carvair accident at Rotterdam on December 28, 1962, in which the pilot was killed, says that it was due to the pilot landing too low with too little engine power. F.28 Go-ahead? The Dutch Government will make a decision next month on State support for development of the Fokker F.28. Recent design changes include a 16° sweep of the outer wings. Unconfirmed reports from Holland say that Sud-Aviation and Dassault have dropped the Mystere 100 in favour of a joint pro gramme with Fokker on the F.28.
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