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Aviation History
1971
1971 - 0089.PDF
82 AIR TRANSPORT... MORE TO PARIS? COMPETITION by Caledonian/BUA on the London-Paris route is now in prospect; no decision has been made by the Government, although a statement is expected soon. The airline apparently finds the route attractive, and would probably accept it as part of the transfer of routes from the corporations to Caledonian/BUA which the Government is at present undertaking. The first part of the transfer, already announced, is of BOAC's services between London and Lagos, Kano and Accra; these will be operated by Caledonian/BUA from April 1. The revenue from these West African routes is about £4 million a year at the moment. The Government said that the routes to be transferred would be worth 222-3 per cent of BOAC's current annual revenue of £200 mil lion—in other words the second-force airline can expect up to £6 million revenue in the first instance from the routes it is being given. There is presumably a second instalment worth not more than £2 million to come. BUA has for some years held a licence for scheduled services between Gatwick and Le Bourget; but when the British Government approached the French over traffic rights it received the reply that a second British carrier was only acceptable if its traffic came out of the 50 per cent that BEA has, and not out of the French share. (BEA is in pool with Air France on the route.) To allow Caledonian/BUA on to London-Paris might be regarded as a route transfer, in that, in the political circumstances, BEA would have to give up part of its traffic. It would also represent double designation of British carriers (if in a somewhat restricted form). Such double designation is one of the objectives envisaged by the Government in its statement on the second-force air line made last August, and one for which the airline would be given preference over other operators. The Edwards Committee, which in its report pointed out the difficulties of double designation in Europe created by governments' insistence on protecting their shares of the traffic, also singled out London-Paris as one of only four routes which could be considered for double designation. (The other three were between London and Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Brussels; the first two of these already have more than one designated carrier, and in the case of Amsterdam that carrier is Caledonian/BUA.) The Edwards report concluded that, within Europe, additional double designation was only practicable at present in the case of London-Paris. Traffic between London and Paris totalled 1,167,000 passengers in 1968 and 1,368,000 in 1969. It probably reached 1.5 million in 1970. BEA's average revenue per passenger-mile in 1969-70 was £0.039, a figure which sug gests that the average revenue per passenger on the London-Paris route is not more than £9 (the single fare is £12 8s, but revenue is diluted by, for example, excursion and night-tourist fares). On this basis the total revenue from the route for all airlines was about £13.5 million in 1970. With increased fares and normal growth the figure for 1971 could approach £15 million. The figures indicate that if Caledonian/BUA were to be allowed half of BEA's share of the route, its revenue would in a full year amount to about £334 million, which, added to revenue from the West African routes, would bring the total well over the £6 million envisaged. Some thing less than a quarter of the total may therefore be expected for the second-force airline. Clearly, if Caledonian/BUA is to go on to the route at all it will operate from Gatwick, which is its base and the terminal for the domestic trunk services, as well as the terminal named in the existing Paris licence. The use of Gatwick will open up a new market in the south-east, as it did when BUA began its domestic trunk operations. For this reason the appearance of Caledonian/BUA would of itself be likely to increase the growth rate of the market; the effect would be further intensified if Air France were FLIGHT International, II January 1971 as a result of the move to operate some services into Gatwick. What appears to be needed on London-Paris is some additional capacity, to judge from Icao traffic samples for 1969, which show the following load factors on the route: — March June September Air France London-Paris 68 71 73 Paris-London 77 70 82 BEA London-Paris 74 74 75 Paris-London 68 73 70 These load factors are high enough to give rise to doubts as to the quality of the service offered; there must be periods in which reservations are like gold dust. The Edwards Committee said: "Although BEA says it gets very few complaints, evidence about London-Paris cus tomer satisfaction is conflicting. Not everyone seems to be content." RAIL FIGHTS BACK WABNING of the competition which British Bail intends to provide against the domestic airlines may be found in the railways' first corporate five-year plan, announced last week. The British Bailways board expresses its "complete confidence that in spite of difficulties to be overcome rail ways can, for less investment and with the technological opportunities open to them, make a greater contribution to Britain's transport system than the more exotic projects like Vtol and the Hovertrain." The board also says that railways cause less environmental disturbance than any other form of transport. The board adds that it expects its Inter-City passenger revenue to increase by 25 per cent by 1975 "against fierce competition from domestic airlines and private transport. Journey times will be cut . . . and a computerised seat- reservation system will be introduced." Besearch expenditure, which includes finance for the development of the Advanced Passenger Train, is planned to continue at its present level of £4-5 million a year. The APT is due to begin commercial trials in 1974. ROME AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS THE current programme of modifications and improve ments to the terminal at Bome Airport (Fiumicino) will now be completed before the end of 1971, about three months in advance of the contract date, it was announced recently. Improvements include the total separation of outgoing and incoming passengers, a new system for handling passengers' luggage, and the sound-proofing of all buildings. Future plans provide for a new terminal consisting of two main buildings; the cost, which will be in excess of £5 million, is to be met by Alitalia. Further improvements include the lengthening of number two runway to 3,200m and the building of third and fourth runways and a secondary radar system, scheduled for operation by the middle of this year. Bandaranaike Airport Katunayake Airport, Colombo, has been renamed Bandaranaike International after the late Prime Minister of Ceylon. BEA has announced that it is to extend its computer reservations network, Beacon, starting in April 1971. The programme, which is due to be completed within two years, will bring into the network 22 more cities on the continent. The system, using visual display units, will provide instant booking facilities through links with the central complex in London. ANZ DC-10 Simulator The fourth airline to order a DC-10-30 simulator from CAE Electronics of Montreal is Air New Zealand. Costing $3.6 million with the visual system, it will be delivered to the Air New Zealand flight training centre at Auckland in 1972. It will have a six-axis motion system, a digital computer and an automated facility for instructors.
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