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Aviation History
1963
1963 - 2113.PDF
914 FLIGl InternatioK 5 December 19 A new BOAC air-to-air of the VCIO. The eighth VCIO, C-ARVH, made its first flight from Weybridge on November 22 and total hours flown to date are no* about 1,800 in more than 770 flights. C-ARVF, the aircraft in the hands of BOAC on a I .COOhr development programme, has now flown more than 420hr, of which 270hr have been on the corporation's routes. Average daily utilization over a 37-day period was 7.3hr, with 9hr attained in one recent week AIR COMM ERCE BOAC v SAS— SAS, who were at the centre of a storm a few years ago over "sixth freedom" US - Scandinavia and beyond traffic, now appear to be under British pressure to limit their fifth freedom rights in the UK on Scandinavia - New York services. This matter is almost certain to have been a subject discussed at the recent bilateral talks in London between the British and the Scandinavian authorities. Mr J. Ross Stainton, general manager of BOAC's western routes, has commented on the BOAC position in an unusual if not unprece dented public comment on intergovernmental bilateral negotiations. This was a welcome departure from the conventional "no com ment, this is a matter for the Ministry," reply, because the more publicly outspoken BOAC are about their commercial interests— particularly those like traffic rights that are so completely at the disposal of the Minister—the better it will be for BOAC. Mr Stainton says:— "The question of competition on the North Atlantic by fifth freedom carriers is a very important one at this time. No British Government has so far faced up to this issue. We know that suc cessive governments have been very much alive to the problems, as are the Americans. If they had the courage to do something about ending this unfair campaign we would be delighted." SAS's pick-up rights at Prestwick are BOAC's main concern. Mr Stainton says that KLM's rights there also are due to come up for review. "The Scottish market is going to be over-subscribed," says Mr Stainton, "and we must have some protection against the swamping of these routes. BOAC carried 22 per cent more passen ger traffic into Prestwick from the US this year. Between us, BOAC and our immediate bilateral rival, Pan American, could carry three- quarters of the transatlantic traffic." Mr Stainton said: "We are not appreciated as much as we should be as the national airline. We would like Scotland to adopt us as its own airline." No doubt BOAC also have in mind the forthcoming competition from Caledonian Airways, which is styled as Scotland's inter national airline. Caledonian have been mounting an intensive sales campaign in North America for charter nights between the USA and Canada and Prestwick. As reported in these pages a fortnight ago, 25 charters have already been sold, and Caledonian have a pro gramme of 75 transatlantic charters next summer, those to the USA being operated oi the US foreign charter permit held by the Scottish independent. Footnote British Eagle's application to the CAB for a similar charter permit, the background to which was reviewed in Flight for August 15, page 233, was recently the subject of a CAB hearing. Eagle were on the brink of success in a bid for a US transatlantic charter permit when BOAC-Cunard's formation in June 1962 rendered their application void. —AND EAGLE WESTERN AGAIN? FOR obvious commercial reasons British Eagle are not anxious t disclose their western hemisphere ambitions. But it is probable thi Mr Harold Bamberg has his eye not only on the development c cheap-rate charter flights to the USA and the Caribbean, but als to Bermuda. This colony was the spring-board from which, i 1958 under the Bermuda flag, he developed the Eagle wester hemisphere operations which led four years later to what he des cribed last week at the BIATA dinner (page 912) as the "stifling o independent competition" by the formation of BOAC-Cunard Describing BOAC-Cunard as "a very strange combination," h noted that as yet the name BOAC-Cunard had not appeared oi any British aircraft. It is unlikely that the goodwill which existed towards Eagle ij Britain's independent mid-Atlantic colony has diminished, and i is fascinating to speculate on the ironical turn of events shouk Eagle become re-established there. The same airline that w* extinguished by BOAC-Cunard would, effectively free of Cunarc inhibitions as it now is, be back in competition with BOAC. There is evidence, too, that British Eagle hive th^ir eye on Malt* the British colony in the Mediterranean which also has an air trans port mind (and a licensing authority) of its own. Early in Octobei British Eagle attended in force, in the persons of Mr Harold Bam berg and Mr Norman Ashton Hill, hearings at which the new Maltese airline, Malta Metropolitan, were applying for a ne« Malta - London scheduled service. British Eagle's presence there was a reminder that this airline still holds a licence granted in 19fl by the Maltese authorities for a Malta-London Very Low Fanj service (Flight, May 22, 1959, pages 725-726, and June 12, 19$ page 800. The approved fare is £19 return; and there is nowin- evitably speculation that Eagle may "do a Bermuda" in Malta anoj under the colony's flag, operate VLF services between the islam an J the UK in competition with BEA—though perhaps not at fatf as low as £19 return. DC-9 SALES ROUND-UP AS briefly recorded in last week's issue, Trans-Canada Air Lnwj have chosen the Douglas DC-9 for re-equipping their short arw medium-range routes from 1966. The initial order is for six aircraj and the eventual requirement has been vanously put at between >j and 45. Mr G. R. McGregor, president of TCA, has said thatWj airline's exhaustive comparative analysis of five different tyW (Oae-Eleven. 727, DC-9, Trident, and Caravelle) had clearly m cated that the DC-9 could best be integrated into TCA's fleet c-vq the next ten vears. Amongst the competitors the placing of j order must be most disappointing to BAC because of the long a»"j ciation between Vickers and the airline over the supply °' s^,.<, haul equipment. Mr McGregor is reported to have said that 1 choice does not necessarily represent their opinion of the rela
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