FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1983
1983 - 2160.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Bulgaria protests US interception SOFIA Bulgaria has lodged a protest with the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the US Embassy in Sofia, claiming that American fight ers intercepted a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines' Tu-134A airliner near Beirut on November 10. The incident was not made public immedi ately, says Bulgaria. Bulgarian Government sources claim "unjustified provocation" against the Sofia-Beirut flight, which was "intercepted" at about 19,000ft altitude some 80km from Beirut. Reportedly, an unspecified number of fight ers with US markings flew "perilously close at 100m". The crew and passenger complement in the airliner was not given, but the Bulgarians claim that "scores of Bulgarians and other nationals were put in danger by the incident". Americans balk at defending Russians WASHINGTON D.C. Law suits are now being filed over the loss of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, but so far the Soviet Union has not entered an appearance in any of the preliminary courtroom sessions, reports our Wash ington correspondent. According to some legal sources, one reason for this is that the Soviets are having trouble finding US counsel. In theory, every defendant is entitled to be represented by a lawyer. At the same time lawyers are not supposed to get into any "conflict of interest situations", and the lawyers so far approached by the Soviets have all claimed that their list of clients includes insurance companies and airlines so they have declined to take on the Russians' defence. 14S8 The wings for the first Aerospatiale/Aeritalia ATR42 are seen here at Saint Nazaire where they are assembled before delivery to Toulouse, where final assembly of the aircraft takes place. The second A TR42 wingset is also building now According to one Washing ton lawyer who says he was approached by a representa tive of the Soviet Embassy here, the question of conflict of interest could have been waived, "but you do not want to offend important existing clients for a one-shot defence of Russians". So far, about 40 law suits have been filed by families of those killed in the KAL crash. The suits are naming as defendants the USSR, KAL, Boeing, Litton Industries (which made the inertial navi gation system), and the US Government, which the plain tiffs say should have warned the aircraft that it had drifted off course and into danger. Anti-trust setback for US CAB WASHINGTON D.C. The US Senate Commerce Committee has just voted favourably on the Air Travel lers Security Act which would retain anti-trust immunity for lata and Air Transport Conference (ATC) travel agencies in the USA. This Act would counter Civil Aviation Board action which is intended to remove this immunity by 1985, effectively allowing anyone who wants to sell airline tickets to do so. lata, the ATC, and most airlines oppose the CAB's plan because it would make trading in tickets more complicated, and open the gate to more ticketing fraud than exists already. Travel agents in the USA sell 80 per cent of all airline tickets which are sold in that country. If the CAB has its way, in 1985 lata- and ATC- accredited travel agents could be taken to court on the grounds that the accreditation gives them an advantage which offends the anti-trust laws. The Senate committee vote did allow for one incursion into the agencies' field: corporate travel departments would be allowed to qualify for an online (single-carrier jour ney) sales franchise and to negotiate discounts with airlines, but they would not receive commission on tickets which they issue. Exclusivity would remain allowable for the accredited agents for interline ticket sales. The committee vote is only the first step for the Act. Next year it has to pass through the House of Repre sentatives, which might not be quite so understanding. Finally, President Reagan could exercise a veto under pressure from the CAB and from the general popularity of deregulation. lata opposes the CAB's action because, it says, the new rules "threaten to destroy the accredited agency network in the USA on which lata carriers depend for a fair and equal opportunity to retail their services in the USA". NEWS SCAN Air Commuter, the Coventry, UK-based airline which flies twice-daily Coventry-Paris schedules with a BAe Jetstream 31, has just had a useful equity injection. West Midlands engineering industrialist Julian Kaye has bought a majority shareholding in the carrier. This and the fact that it often has to turn passengers away from full aircraft means that by the end of January 1984 Air Commuter will almost certainly have acquired an HS.748 to fly the Paris run. Route expansion is being considered. Whether the carrier keeps the leased Jetstream depends upon how business goes. KLM is to wet lease Boeing 737 intra-Europe freight capacity from Transavia. The contract covers a minimum 2,000 flying hours a year for three years. The Dutch flag carrier has been changing European freight policy gradually, turning to trucks where they are more efficient, and now, because of the increased bellyhold capac ity of its new Airbus A310s, to cargo aircraft wet-lease for the remaining requirements. KLM's rapid-change DC-9s, previously used for pure freight at night and passengers during the day, are now being modernised for pax-only operation. But over its entire international network KLM's freight tonne miles figure has grown 20 per cent this financial year compared with the last, while pax figures remain static. Jackson International Airport (formerly Sea-Tac in Washington State, USA) last month opened a new cargo facility. Phase one of the $18 million project, now complete, consists of one cargo building, a paved parking area which will take 747s, and three smaller cargo buildings. Phase two will be complete in 1985 and it will add two more cargo buildings, five aircraft stands, and an operations building. Fairchild Aircraft, which had already revised the prices of its short-body aircraft, has now announced price increases between 7-5 per cent and 14 per cent for its executive and cargo types. FLIGHT International, 3 December 1983
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
