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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 2515.PDF
FUGHT international, 7 November /968 AIR TRANSPORT... 733 Eagle Casts Around THE AIR TRANSPORT LICENSING BOARD has revoked BritishEagle's licence for inclusive-tour charters on the routeLondon-Bermuda/Nassau. The revocation was made on an application by BOAC (see Flight for July 18, page 86) alleging irregularities in the conduct of the tour services. Last week British Eagle put on a brave face and announced that, as it proposed to start a scheduled service between Nassau and Luxembourg through its Bahamian subsidiary, Eagle Inter- national Airlines (Bahamas), the revocation was "of no real significance." The airline also applied to the Board of Trade in London last week for designation under bilateral agreements with the USA and Canada as a carrier on the route Nassau-New York/ Toronto/ Montreal. Mr. Harold Bamberg, British Eagle chairman, is also negoti- ating the sale of his travel interests, the Travel Trust group, to the Government-owned Transport Holding Company (the deal seemed near completion as we closed for press), and the airline has taken a stake in the newly formed Swiss charter company Tellair (see Flight last week, page 688). The current bout of hectic activity within Mr Bamberg's airline and other interests must be viewed against the fact that British Eagle has undoubtedly been suffering a flat spell recently. It is of course not alone in this, but its troubles are compounded by the loss last March of trooping contracts and emigrant charter flights to Australia. Mr Bamberg has said that, although the Transport Holding Company approached him over the acquisition of Travel Trust, he feels that if the deal goes through he will be freed to devote his entire attention to the airline. The revocation application put to the ATLB by BOAC included charges that tour operators other than those named in the licence had been promoting the tours; that tours in the USA and Europe had been offered, although this was a cabotage licence; that there had been irregularities concerning the duration of tours; and that there had been material diver- sion of BOAC's traffic. BOAC also claimed that it was clear that the British Eagle services were running at a loss. The ATLB, which threw out BOAC's application on pro- cedural grounds when it was first made (see Flight for August 29, page 322) allowed it the second time around; "the evidence tendered by BOAC," said the board, "left us in no doubt that British Eagle International Airlines Ltd have evaded the terms and conditions of this inclusive-tour licence by representing the service, particularly in Bermuda and the Bahamas, as little different from a scheduled service operated by them- selves, and by selling carriage on the service on this basis, thinly disguised as an inclusive tour by the provision of some limited hotel accommodation in London." The ATLB, which added that it regretted that BEIA had seen fit to tender no evidence, remarked that, had it been asked to license a service of the type actually offered, it would have refused to do so. An indignant statement from Mr Bamberg followed the decision; he said that it "once more highlights the protectionist attitude of the present system in favour of the national airlines." He complained also of the frequency limitations suffered by British Eagle, and said that BOAC's recent applica- tion for reduced fares in the Skycoach category of their scheduled services was a direct follow-on from British Eagle's innovation in this field. British Eagle stands to lose its Caribbean IT service—0I ie return flight a fortnight both to Nassau and to Bermuda— on November 18, but if it decides to appeal against the decision it will be able to continue operation until the Jesuit of the appeal is known. At the same time the airline "°pes to get its Luxembourg service going by the end of the year or early in 1969. The Bahamas Government has given permission for the service, and the Luxembourg Government is not expected to raise any objection. It is hoped that Eagle International (Bermuda) will be able to join in and add Bermuda to the route. No stipulation of course as to fares has been made by the Bahamas Government, and freedom from the dictates of IATA is one of the attractions of Luxembourg. Air Bahama International now offers one return flight a week to Luxembourg at £127 10s (the 1ATA fare to Brussels is £243 17s). It will not be possible to use British-registered aircraft on the route, and Eagle International (Bahamas), like its sister company in Bermuda, has no aircraft. The Eagle management will therefore have to decide quite soon whether it can spare any 707s for the Luxembourg service—it has a North Atlantic group-charter programme as well to maintain next year—or whether new equipment will be needed. The North Atlantic charter programme reached a peak last summer of 12 return flights a week. A possible snag which has been encountered, and which could prevent a much-needed expansion of this traffic (in what is after all one of the fastest- expanding markets), is the fact that the CAB authority is held in the name of British Eagle International Airlines. BEIA is an IATA member, and IATA forbids the operation of split charters and inclusive tours. The airline is currently trying to switch the charter authority to British Eagle Aviation, a non-IATA company, but a CAB examiner has just recom- mended that this should not be permitted. He found that British Eagle Aviation was not a sufficiently individual entity in its own right to be considered "fit and proper" within the meaning of the act for the issue of a foreign air carrier permit. British Eagle has appealed against the CAB examiner's recom- mendation and is supported in this by the Bureau of Operating Rights. Part of the examiner's contention was that many management officers of British Eagle Aviation were in fact common to BEIA, and many of its aircrew were in fact employed by BEIA. The Eagle International (Bahamas) bid for Nassau-New York/ Montreal/Toronto rights is problematical. BOAC already connects Nassau with New York, as do both Pan American and Northeast Airlines. The routes to Montreal and Toronto are operated by Air Canada alone. The Board of Trade can be expected to consult with both the CAB and the Canadian Air Transport Board before it says whether or not it will designate Eagle. It will also consider the position vis-a-vis BOAC, and past policy towards the corporation and towards dual designation suggests that the Eagle application may well be turned down. Even if BoT is amenable towards the presence of another carrier, it cannot ignore the current rebuilding and re-equipment of Bahamas Airways, now owned jointly by BOAC and Cathay Pacific and with aspirations towards becoming a Bahamian public company. EASTERN SELLS ELECTRAS FIVE of the 40 Lockheed Electras in Eastern Airlines' fleet have now been sold—three to Lineas Aereas Paraguayas, of Asuncion, and two to the leasing company, International Aerodyne of Miami—with spare parts and extra engines. The deal includes the training of pilots and engineers by Eastern. IA's Electras have already been contracted for by Falconair Charter, the Swedish charter and IT carrier, and they are going to Lockheed Aircraft Service at Kennedy Airport, New York, to be modified as 121-seaters. In addition to training Falconair pilots, flight engineers and mechanics, Eastern will provide spares support and will overhaul engines.
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