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Aviation History
1974
1974 - 0503.PDF
FLIGHT International, 28 March 1974 385 Airbus into service A "Flight" report from Paris, London, Toulouse and Hatfield. The London-Paris route is not only the busiest in Europe (over 2,000,000 passengers a year), it is one that contributed greatly to the success in world markets of two of Europe's most successful commercial transports, the Viscount and the Caravelle. On May 1, it will see the debut of Europe's latest civil aircraft—the A300 Air bus. The A300 is built by companies in five countries, Aerospatiale in France, Deutsche Airbus in Germany, Hawker Siddeley in Britain, CASA in Spain and Fokker-VFW in the Netherlands. The engines are manufactured in the United States and the pods are built in France by an American company, Rohr. Training for customers is carried out by Aeroformatiorr, a joint company established by Airbus Industrie and by the American company, Flightsafety. Firm customers total five: Air France, Lufthansa, Iberia, Transbrasil—if negotiations with the Brazilian Govern ment are successful—and another as yet unnamed airline. The aircraft has been chosen by members of the Atlas group of European carriers, so as well as Air France, Lufthansa and Iberia, it seems likely that Sabena and Alitalia may later buy it. While the number of customers may be reasonable, the number of aircraft sold to date, 20, is undoubtedly disappointing, but it seems likely that those airlines which have made commitments to buy will increase their orders. Air France's director-general, M Pierre Cot, told "Flight" earlier this month that his airline will need 18 A300s by the end of this decade—12 more than it now has on order—and that the aircraft will be used by Air France's charter subsidiary, Air Charter International. By 1976 it is planned that the A300 will provide employment for some 40,000 people. BY THE END of the decade the equipment used by Air France on its short and medium-haul routes will con sist of 18 A300B2s, its existing fleet of 20 Boeing 727- 200s and eight early-model written-down Boeing 707s, which may be retrofitted with fan engines. In addition Air Charter International, the French flag carrier's non-Iata subsidiary, will be using the A300B4 alongside its existing 727s and Caravelles. M Pierre Cot, director-general of Air France, which will this year introduce the A300 on routes radiating from Paris to London, Nice, Casablanca, Tunis, Algiers and Marseilles, told Flight that his airline will convert the six options it presently holds for the aircraft into firm orders and will need, in addition, another six aircraft. At present Air France operates 20 727-200s and 37 Caravelle 3s on its European and North African routes, as well as two leased Boeing 737-200s on its routes within the Caribbean. It is, however, facing serious financial difficulties. Its fuel bill has risen from Fr400 million (£19 million) a year to around Frl,200 million (£77 million). Also costing money that the carrier can ill afford is the transference of (an initial) 30 per cent of its operations to the new Charles de Gaulle airport at Roissy-en-France, where, according to M Cot, rents are 12 per cent more expensive than at Orly. All in all this will result in a deficit this year of between Fr400 million and Fr500 million (£19 million and £23 mil lion)—equivalent to between eight and 11 per cent of the airline's expected turnover. One result has been a cutback of Frl20 million in the carrier's investment programme during the next 12 months. Yet M Cot wants to commit his carrier to a fleet of A300s worth upwards of £130 million. This after being quoted in the French newspaper Le Figaro as saying that "I have never been invited to give the Air France point of view" to the manufacturers. But the A300 can solve, or help solve, at least one of M Cot's problems—a problem which is shared by airline managements the world over. It is "a fuel-economic air craft, and fuel economy is now very important." Fuel con sumption during flight testing has been upwards of five per cent better than expected. The A300, says Airbus Industrie in its sales literature, is more economic than older short/medium-haul aircraft. Over a 350 n.m. sector "the narrow trijet"—depicted in artwork as remarkably similar to the 727-200—uses 30 per cent more fuel per passenger. This assumes, however, that the A300 is operating on a sufficiently dense route for it
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