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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 0179.PDF
120 AIR COMMERCE . . . FLIGHT International, 23 January 1964 ROUND FIVE FIVE conferences, one crisis and another possible, and still IATA has failed to reach a unanimous agreement on North Atlantic fares. The recent Montreal conference—convened to hear the result of the postal vote on the Nassau proposals and finally to work out the North and mid-Atlantic and round-the-world fares—ended in deadlock over the vital issue of unanimity. Though all 94 members of the association were agreed in principle to the sizeable cuts in individual fares (Flight International, January 9, 1964), three airlines—Canadian Pacific, El Al, and Irish Inter- national—withheld their approval because of certain proposed restrictions on the group rates. In winding up the session, the association's director-general Sir William Hildred optimistically predicted that the objections would be resolved by April 1, by which date the majority of carriers have said they will introduce the cut-rate fares regardless. Overshadowed by the North Atlantic issue, but important agreements nevertheless, are the unanimous decisions made at Montreal to put cut-rate fares into effect, from April 1, between: central Asia and North America; and over most routes between Europe, the Caribbean, and points in the northern and western parts of South America. The first group are from points in Ceylon, India, and Pakistan to North America, and the cuts range from 6-9 per cent through the various classes of travel. Over the rapidly expanding holiday routes from Europe to the Caribbean new promotional fares are introduced substantially less than any before. These excursion fares are valid between February 15 and June 11, and are between 30 and 35 per cent less than the previous year-round economy fare. Also, except for the ten and a half peak summer weeks, the economy round-trip fare is reduced about 12 per cent. An example of the effect of these dramatic reductions is the London-Jamaica excursion return fare of £164 compared with the previous cheapest of £247. BOAC in particular are very pleased with the agreement which could revolutionize their business in the area. One spokesman said: "We would have liked even lower rates." THE JAPANESE DECISION THE decisions of All Nippon Airways and Japan Air Lines to order Boeing 727s, as reported last week, are obviously a major setback for the Hawker Siddeley Trident. Right until the end of a lengthy and thorough evaluation the two most favoured competitors were always unofficially reported to be evenly matched. For over two years Boeing and DH were locked in what has been one of the hardest sales battles ever fought. The two orders were in effect one; last August the Japanese Ministry of Transport had asked both airlines to choose the same aircraft for their domestic trunk routes to lessen the cost of maintenance and crew training. Air Cmdre F. R. Banks, chief executive of DH, who was in Japan at the time of the announcement, is reported to have said that the 727 was chosen because of an advantage in delivery dates. Though the Trident 1C and IE versions could presumably have matched the 727 in this respect, it was the lengthened IF version that was considered. With two such closely matched aircraft it was obvious that the loser—with orders from other S.E. Asian carriers like Thai, Garuda, Cathay, PAL, and Malaysian at stake—would be bitterly disappointed. Both manufacturers spared no efforts to guarantee engineering support for their product. Hawker Siddeley offered to put up a spare parts store in Tokyo, but the fact that Seattle was nearer than Hat- field to Tokyo and that JAL's engineers were accustomed to US jets must have been important factors. ANA, who ordered three 727s, will be the first to take delivery, and their order will be completed between March and May 1965. But in the meantime ANA are chartering a 727 which they intend to begin operating next May between Tokyo and Sapporo. British European Airways had similarly offered to make a Trident 1C available at an early date so this could not have been a consideration. JAL's order for six 727s (with an option to cancel two) will be delivered between October 1965 and May 1966. The airline plans to start 727 services in April 1966—two years after ANA. These sales bring the number of 727s on order to 156 by 11 airlines. A Morris Mini-Cooper "S" for H.H. Sheikh Khalifah bin Sulman Al Khali fan of Bahrain, brother of the Ruler, goes aboard a BOAC DC-7F at London Heathrow ABC OF PRICING POLICY ATLB Licensing Notice No 156 contains an intriguing proposal by BEA for the fares to be charged on the new services to Middles- brough (Middleton St George). The fares originally proposed by BEA on the London - Middlesbrough route were similar to those charged on the shorter London - Manchester route. BKS, however, subsequently proposed lower London - Middlesbrough fares, and British Eagle's proposed price was lower still. Now BEA have amended their application and have tabulated their three proposals as A, B and C, and have said in so many words that the Board can take their pick. This puts the Board in rather a dilemma. In its fares decision a year ago (Flight International, February 21, 1963, page 256, "The Airlines Know Best") the ATLB said that it was "content to rely on BEA's commercial judgment." In this case BEA seem to have run out of commercial judgment; and as the Board has conceded that it has "no ready means" of forming an independent judgment of its own it looks like a question of eeny meeny miny mo. Other- wise the criterion, obviously, is that fares should be A, B or C, whichever is the least. BOAC'S REPRESENTATION ON THE ARB SUGGESTIONS that the Air Registration Board are resentful of the Minister of Aviation's handling of the BOAC affair, and that this is apparent in their refusal to accept Sir Matthew Slattery's resignation from the Board as the airline's representative, have been strongly denounced by the ARB chairman, Lord Brabazon ofTara. According to The Times, Lord Brabazon, apart from being "annoyed" that such an interpretation should have been put on the matter, says: "Why should we want to be rude to the Minister? We are on very good terms with him." Sir Matthew's four-year term on the board is not due to expire until the end of this year. He is one of four members elected by the operating group which comprises BOAC, BEA, BIATA and the Royal Aero Club. So far this group has not nominated a replace- ment for Sir Matthew and consequently the ARB has asked him to stay.
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